It took a while to find out what it was that Ryan Ainsworth and Grant Seaver overdosed on, but the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that the Park City, Utah police confirmed on Thursday that the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office determined that both boys died from a synthetic opioid known as U-47700, also called “pink.”
Seaver died on September 11, and Ainsworth on September 13, each at his respective home. The best friends attended Treasure Mountain Junior High School in Park City. No one knew what had killed the boys until an investigation into their social media accounts found conversations about U-47700.
A 15-year-old boy was enlisted to help the two younger boys order the drug. The older boy was in court on Friday, charged with the felony of distribution of a controlled or counterfeit substance and the misdemeanor of reckless endangerment.
But the story doesn’t stop there. Court documents revealed a teenage girl also helped the boys get the drug by having it mailed to her home because the teens thought her parents wouldn’t be suspicious. As of today, she has not been charged.
U-47700 – What the heck is this drug?
Well, first of all, if you guessed it came from China, you are correct because that’s where most of the synthetic opioid concoctions are being manufactured that our young people are overdosing on.
U-47700, also known as “pink” or “pinky,” is a synthetic opioid first developed by a team of scientists at Upjohn in the 1970s as an alternative to morphine. It is about eight times stronger than morphine.
The scariest part: this drug has never been tested on humans, and no one knew what kind of effects it would have. But like similar potent opioid agonists, researchers figured it would produce symptoms including strong analgesia, sedation, euphoria, constipation, itching and respiratory depression that could be fatal.
This summer has seen a spike in opioid addiction and overdoses in the U.S., and most of the ODs and deaths have been linked to carfentanil and Fentanyl added to heroin by drug dealers buying the potent chemicals online from China. And while the Associated Press published an excellent investigative report on the China connection between opioids and U.S. addiction, the pathways are still wide open for these deadly drugs to get into the hands of our children.
Now, instead of flying under the radar, U-47700 has now become a major problem as more and more deaths are being attributed to this chemical. Digital Journal went online to see just how many websites there are selling this garbage, and it is amazing.
One site, that calls itself the “Biggest Supplier in the World.” offers free shipping to anyplace on the globe. They also point out in print that “Packing and Shipping discreetly and secretly,make sure to pass the custom without any trouble,we are good at delivering these research chemicals.”
