What is 'rainbow fentanyl' and how concerned should Oklahomans be about it?

By now, many Oklahomans have seen warnings from news outlets about so-called "rainbow fentanyl."

A late-August announcement from the national Drug Enforcement Administration claimed the multi-colored fentanyl pills were being made to look like candy and target young children.

However, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says they haven't seen this issue in Oklahoma, despite fentanyl being the "fastest rising killer" among drug overdoses in the state, said Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward. Oklahoma City police public information officer Gary Knight said the department has "seen virtually none of the rainbow fentanyl here in OKC."

Is 'rainbow fentanyl' being made to target children?

Fentanyl is sometimes pressed into colorful pills, but Woodward said this is less about attracting children and more about tricking people into thinking they're getting another drug.

Blue fentanyl pills with 'M-30' on them are made to resemble oxycodone, while others are made in multiple colors to pass as ecstasy. These are being sold to teens and young adults at clubs, parties and concerts.

While the pills resembling candy is nothing new, it is a change that more of them are containing fentanyl rather than methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, called ecstasy in tablet form or molly in its crystal form.

"You don't kill kids, you sell this to addicts," Woodward said. "That's where the profit is and that's what these people are, they're businessmen. Even if they're ruthless drug cartels, they're businessman at the end of the day, and they sell this where there's huge demand for it."

Knight agreed the color change is "is simply to better disguise their product."

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the colorful fentanyl was seized in 18 states during the month of August. The drug was found in pills, powder and blocks resembling sidewalk chalk.

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Meanwhile, Oklahoma's Attorney General John O'Connor signed onto a letter along with 17 other attorney generals asking President Joe Biden to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. The letter said enough fentanyl has been seized in the last year to kill every person in America multiple times over, and claimed this indicates a conspiracy to murder Americans or stockpile a dangerous chemical weapon.

"I urge parents to talk to their children about the dangers of fentanyl," O'Connor said in a statement to The Oklahoman. "It is very addictive and lethal in extremely small amounts. Drug cartels are targeting our most vulnerable with these colored pills and that makes their behavior even more evil."

Still, Woodward said he is not aware of any drug dealers peddling the pills to children.

"I'm sure we're gonna see some Facebook posts about how this Halloween, people need to watch their candy because it could be fentanyl," Woodward said. "That's just not going to happen, because nobody's going to just throw away ... you're talking about thousands of dollars, every batch. So no, they're not. But it makes a good internet story or Facebook post to scare parents."

How deadly is fentanyl?

Fentanyl in general is a huge concern for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Oklahoma's law enforcement agencies.

The number of fentanyl overdose deaths in the state more than doubled between 2019 and 2020, and again between 2020 and 2021. It is now behind only methamphetamine when it comes to the number of overdose deaths, but Woodward said there are many more overdoses they don't know about.

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"We think dozens of times a week all over the state, (paramedics) and fire departments and police officers are getting to the overdose in time and administering Narcan," Woodward said. "It's scary how many overdoses we will never know about."

Knight said a lack of quality control when making the drugs is the reason it's so easy to overdose.

"Fentanyl is typically mixed in a 55-gallon drum, which produces a large number of pills," Knight said. "However, because it’s mixed by criminals and not pharmaceutical companies ... some pills contain a lethal amount of the drug, while others have a much smaller amount. "

Most fentanyl deaths in the state have been caused by blue pills that look like oxycodone, Woodward said.

One Oklahoma City police officer, Sgt. Dustin Wright, told The Oklahoman in August he frequently drops off Narcan nasal spray to southeast Oklahoma City's Plaza Inn. Some officers call the motel "the fentanyl den of Oklahoma City."

Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect responses from the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Rainbow fentanyl' not a major concern for Oklahoma narcotics bureau