(WTOL) - There's a new drug on the streets in Ohio. The drug is more powerful than heroin, and it's all legal.
It's called U-47700, and although it's legal in the United States, that doesn't mean it's safe.
This particular synthetic opioid is more potent that heroin however it's significantly less potent that fentynal," said Doug Rohde of the Lake County Crime Laboratory.
The new drug is seven times more powerful than morphine and is also being sold on the street in north east Ohio as Oxycodone.
So far the drug has caused 20 deaths across the nation including the first in Ohio, a 29-year-old man in Lake County.
"It's not only young people. We are seeing deaths across the board. In middle age people and even some elderly people," said Rohde.
The drug first popped up in Florida and Texas and officials have now found it closer to home on the streets of Lorain, Ohio.
It's legal because the U.S. government has yet to catch up to it. Recent deaths mean a closer look, but an out-law of U-47700 is 6 months away.
So Moms and Dads, here is how to keep it out of your kids' hands.
"These drugs can be available on the streets or simply by a few clicks on the computer. Watching what we do in our homes on the computer probably the best proactive measure that a Parent can take," said Rohde.
Experts say the drug can be taken through pill form or by snorting it too.
