The drug menace surrounding celebrities in Bollywood and Sandalwood has taken up space across media for past 2 months. With the demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, NCB (Narcotics Control Board) has taken up active role in breaking the drug chain which is being used by celebrities.
Apart from the usual heroine and cocaine, another drug named ‘China White’ is said to be reaching India’s party circuits.
As the Bollywood and Sandalwood deals with a worsening substance abuse crisis, China White is said to have seen a surge among celebrities.
For those unfamiliar with China White, here’s what you should know about the designer opioid, its effects on a person, and what research is available so far.
‘China White’ is the street name for furanyl fentanyl and a few other known derivatives of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller found in most emergency rooms. ‘China White’ is similar to heroin and morphine, but is a hundred times more potent, if not more so. It is either snorted through the nose or injected directly into the bloodstream. The high lasts longer and is more difficult to treat if a person overdoses.
Dr. Wilfredo Lopez-Ojeda, a biomedical sciences professor at the University of Central Florida who co-authored the Universal Journal of Clinical Medicine editorial with Dr. Carlos Ramos-Matos notes “What gave rise to China White is a mixture of the original fentanyl with perhaps some residues of heroin and maybe some cocaine, then they started referring to it as a more pure product.”
Hence it is a pure product. It is mixed with heroine or cocaine to give the ‘higher than high’ effect.
China White is a fat-soluble painkiller that’s much stronger and lasts far longer than morphine, heroin or fentanyl itself. The designer drug has led to a rash of overdose-related deaths over the last five years. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributed 14 deaths in Rhode Island and 50 deaths in Pennsylvania to acetyl-fentanyl.
What kills China White users are the designer drug’s side effects. People high on the drug who enter emergency room may seem like they’re overdosing on heroin or another opioid, but the symptoms are more complicated because fentanyl derivatives are far more powerful. “When they enter the emergency room, the symptoms are very confusing,” Lopez-Ojeda says. “If treatment is not followed through accordingly, people can end up dying.”
This designer drug is said to be reaching India through Myanmar. In October 2017, the Mizoram police caught a large quantities of the drug that was being smuggled from Myanmar which was meant for distribution in the north-east states.
With NCB questioning lot of celebrities, talent managers across Bollywood, more details about drug usages will be thrown up. Many youths across India with nature of being seen cool towards their peers, consumes these drugs at miniscule level and in the end get struck in the vicious cycle of substance abuse. There are lot of reports emerging which states that youths in Punjab are severely addicted to drugs and drugs are being trafficked through the borders via Pakistan. It is high time the elders of the family guide the youth towards healthy habits and make sure they don’t lose their valuable years in drug addiction.