ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — According to WTVT, the drug, known as a "super pill," looks like Xanax but is mixed with Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than street heroin. The lethal combination can kill someone within minutes, authorities warn.
"You don't have to take a handful of them," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told WFLA. "All you gotta do is take one, and you're dead."
Gualtieri calls the spread of the drug – which apparently is found only in Pinellas County and sells for $5 a pill – a public health emergency. It has killed nine people recently, including a 25-year-old woman in Dunedin earlier this month, according to WFLA.
"People need to immediately stop buying Xanax on the street because their life literally depends on it," Gualtieri told WTVT.
>> Click here to watch a video report
Cox Media Group
