'Gray Death' Becomes Latest Opioid Threat

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – It's just the latest in the ever-changing face of the nation's opioid epidemic. A substance that looks like concrete, "Gray Death" is being called one of the scariest combinations of opioids to hit the streets.

Deneen Kilcrease is manager of the chemistry section of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Crime Lab, whose job it is to monitor drug trends.

"One of the samples that I've seen actually has six different opiates in it," Kilcrease told KCBS.

Kilcrease said she has seen her state go from heroin to heroin with fentanyl to this current mish-mash that makes up Gray Death.

So why the mix?

"Some of these compounds would skirt the law. So they were really strong, they produce the same high or even a better high," Kilcrease explained.

And they're cheaper than something like oxycodone.

Last fall, the feds banned two compound often found in Gray Death. One of them is U-47-700, sometimes known as "pink". It stands out because in rodent studies, it was the strongest and never even made it to human testing.

"We have had six deaths in 2017 so far, just from U47-700," Kilcrease said.

Some of the pills taken from Prince's estate after the music icon's overdose contained U47-700.