Dozens of people in America are overdosing on elephant tranquillisers

Two dozen people overdosed after taking an extremely powerful sedative usually used to tranquillise elephants – and two died.

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On Monday, prosecutors charged 22-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs of Akron, Ohio, with distributing the drug ‘carfentanil’.

Federal prosecutors say the elephant sedative resulted in two dozen overdoses in a West Virginia city.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carfentanil is an elephant sedative that is 100 times more potent than fentanyl.

Fentanyl is an opioid used as part of anesthesia to help prevent pain – or on terminal cancer patients.

In September, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) issued a public warning about the health and safety risks of carfentanil.

“’DEA, local law enforcement and first responders have recently seen the presence of carfentanil, which has been linked to a significant number of overdose deaths in various parts of the country,’ the DEA’s release stated.

‘Improper handling of carfentanil, as well as fentanyl and other fentanyl-related compounds, has deadly consequences.’

Griggs was charged with heroin distribution in connection with 27 overdoses that resulted in two deaths on Aug. 15 in Huntington, West Virginia.