Despite warnings from federal law enforcement about the recent appearance of so-called “rainbow fentanyl,” police say there have been no new instances of the drug appearing in Maine since it was discovered here last month.
On Aug. 25, police in Bangor and Farmington both reported seizing brightly colored fentanyl tablets in shapes resembling a domino or Rolls-Royce logo.
"If they were mixed into a bottle, you would think they were Flintstones chewables," Farmington Police Chief Ken Charles said at the time, referring to the children’s vitamins. "It's a very unsafe situation."
Days later, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency warned that the candy-colored drug was found in 18 states, from New England to Hawaii.
“Rainbow fentanyl — fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes — is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a news release last month.
At the time, police reported the seizures to Maine’s Information and Analysis Center, an intelligence gathering service that shares information between the state and federal government. Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesperson Shannon Moss said Friday that there have been no further developments or reports of the drug in the candy-colored form.
According to the DEA, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. Last year, the DEA reported there were more fentanyl-related deaths than gun and auto-related deaths combined, and authorities fear that "rainbow fentanyl" is only going to make the scourge worse.