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Erin Bortel of ACR Health talks about the potent new drug W-18.

(James T. Mulder)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A new designer drug that is stronger, cheaper and deadlier than heroin or fentanyl may be on the streets of Central New York.

ACR Health issued a public health alert today about W-18, a synthetic opioid being used in Canada and parts of the U.S. ACR Health said it was advised by the High Impact Drug Traffic Areas of New York and New Jersey, a group of law enforcement and health officials, that W-18 may have arrived in the Syracuse area.

In early July, W-18 was found mixed with heroin in Philadelphia, said Erin Bortel, ACR's director of prevention services.

There have been no confirmed W-18 overdose cases yet in Upstate New York, according to Bortel. But she said there is a suspicion that W-18 may already been in the heroin supply because of an increase in overdoses in recent months. There has been a cluster of overdoses in the Watertown area, including two fatal overdoses last weekend, she said. "Having such a tight cluster in a rural community is cause for concern," she said.

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler urged the public to stay away from W-18 and all street drugs.

"Learning of this potential new drug out here in our community is alarming to the Syracuse Police Department," Fowler said.

ACR officials are alarmed because Narcan, the drug used to revive people who overdose on heroin and other opioids, is not as effective in reviving people who overdose on W-18.

The overdose rescue drug Narcan is not as effective in reviving someone who has overdosed on W-18.

The standard Narcan kit contains two intranasal doses. At least three or more doses may be necessary to revive someone overdosing on W-18, Bortel said.

Anyone who sees someone overdosing should immediately call 911, ACR officials said. They also advised people trained to use Narcan to carry more of the rescue drug.

W-18 was developed at the University of Alberta in Canada more than 30 years ago, but was never produced by a pharmaceutical company.

After a Chinese chemist found it, labs began making W-18 for consumers in search of a cheap high.

The Washington Post reported there are no tests available to detect the drug in a person's blood or urine. The drug's effect on humans is largely unknown because W-18 was only ever tested on mice.

Health Canada identified through scientific analysis that some pills being sold in Calgary as fentanyl -- typically blue-green, round pills -- actually contained W-18, which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, according to a report published by the website Vice.

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