On September 5th, the New York Times released an article on carfentanil and its effect across the United States recently. Carfentanil is an animal tranquilizer used on livestock and elephants with no practical use for humans, but has emerged recently, causing overdoses across the United States. In the article, addiction specialists said that sharp increases in overdoses were due to America's heroin epidemic, and the growing prevalence of powerful synthetic opiates like fentanyl. 

The NDEWS Coordinating Center is continuing to track Carfentanil and the recent overdoses in states including West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.