Watch CBS News

Deputies: Just Touching 'Gray Death' Drug Could Kill You

FRANKLIN, La. (CBS Local) -- A relatively new and deadly form of heroin is so powerful, just touching it could kill you, investigators in Louisiana warned Friday.

A sample of super drug "gray death" was recently recovered from two suspects from the Lake Charles area who were traveling across St. Mary Parish, CBS affiliate KLFY reported.

"You don't want to touch this. If it all possible, you don't even want to put it on your hands," David Spencer, spokesperson for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office said.

In 2017, a police officer in East Liverpool, Ohio, accidentally overdosed on gray death when he touched the drug during an arrest.

The super drug is being called "gray death." The drug is heroin that has been cut with Fentanyl, and officials are warning that just touching it could kill you. KLFY News 10

Posted by KLFY Britt Lofaso on Monday, February 3, 2020

Gray death is heroin that has been cut with fentanyl and other deadly opioids, according Spencer, and it is reportedly 10,000 times more potent than morphine.

It first appeared in Alabama and Georgia in 2017. Then it moved to Ohio and Pennsylvania. Now deputies say it's in Louisiana.

"Be aware of the color. It looks like chunks of concrete," Spencer said.

Officials say if you come across gray death, you should not pick it up or even touch it. Instead, you should report it to authorities.

"You would really hate to see somebody innocent touch this not knowing what it is or a child to touch that now knowing what it is," Spencer added. "We just definitely just want to educate the public so they know, hey, this is a new thing."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.