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A powerful new synthetic drug available to buy online is said to be killing users.
It's known as 'Pink' or 'Pinky' and can be found on various websites - usually registered in China. Upwards of 50 people have reportedly died after overdosing on the high.
Right now, the chemical opiate – also known as U-47700 – is sweeping through the US.
Several states have taken emergency action and banned the drug – but it's still relatively unknown, with the effects not fully researched. Pink remains readily available.
According to Mic , the lab-made drug is said to be 700 per cent more potent than heroin. Mic also said that U-47700 was an ingredient in the cocktail of drugs that killed Prince.
What's in Pink and what does it do to people?
Pink is an opiod – it's from the same family as heroin and fentanyl. These attach themselves to receptors in the brain, those that give people a feeling of intense pleasure.
"The linkage of these chemicals with the receptors triggers the same biochemical brain processes that reward people with feelings of pleasure when they engage in activities that promote basic life functions, such as eating and sex," according to a paper on the subject published in the journal Science and Practice Perspective .
Pink comes in many forms . It can be snorted, or taken orally or rectally.
The drug was created in the 1970s by a company called Upjohn. Originally, it was invented as a synthetic alternative to morphine (used for acute pain relief), but it's now arrived on the 'legal high' scene.
Some have said that the drug could be "even more dangerous" than other synthetic compounds around – as legal highs or otherwise.
The NHS warns against taking 'legal highs'. The health service that just because they're not banded with common illegal drugs such as heroin or crack cocaine, it doesn't mean they're any safer.
"Legal drugs and 'legal highs' are substances used like illegal recreational drugs, such as cocaine or cannabis, but not covered by current drug misuse laws," the NHS website says.
"Although a drug may be referred to as being legal, this does not mean it is safe or approved for use; simply that it has not been declared illegal."
How do people get it and is it in the UK?
The UK has banned all 'new psychoactive drugs'. But you can still buy Pink online from various sites. 1g costs in the region of £15 (we found this price after googling the product). Some sellers accept payment through the online currency Bitcoin.
Unlike the US, however, there have been no reported cases of overdoses in the UK.
In Utah, in the Midwest of America, two 13-year-old best friends are thought to have died after taking Pink. Their deaths are technically unexplained and officially unconfirmed, but local law enforcement believes the drug is likely to have been the cause.
Grant Seaver and Ryan Ainsworth were found dead separately by their parents within days of each other, Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said .
Carpenter explained to local news that "teenagers linked to the two dead boys" had ordered the drug online.
He said: "It’s pretty easy. They go online, unfortunately, and $37 and a credit card and a cellphone and they can order it up, which is what makes it so scary."
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