CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Across the Northern border, a drug called 'purple heroin' or 'purp' for short is gaining speed. It's far more powerful than street heroin, and people are dying from overdoses in its wake.
Addiction therapist Erik Shaffer says the problem with purple heroin is that it's one deadly drug mixed with another.
"Fentanyl is another synthetic opioid it's thought to be about 1000 more potent than heroin," Shaffer said.
It can create a high that could be deadly with even the smallest dose.
"I think it's a massive problem with the youth, right now there's a lot of youth out there and they're thrill seekers by nature, but they just don't understand what they're using and they'll find themselves in trouble before they know," Shaffer said.
Purple heroin surfaced in Canada and has made its way South, causing concern for curious minds in the lower states.
"Whoever's dealing in this stuff they're cutting the heroin because it's so much cheaper, it's easy to produce so there's more profit, they don't know what it is," Shaffer said.
He said if someone is using, the side effects start with the eyes but don't stop there.
"The signs are extreme tiredness, irritability, personality changes for that point, changes in personality," he said.
For counselors, the challenging part of purple heroin if people live to seek help is dependence -- serious withdrawal, watery eyes, itchy skin, vomiting, and seizures.
"Most people who get to that point where they start getting sick if they don't have," he said. "They're not able to stop on their own, they just can't because the sickness is so intense and undesirable that they'll avoid it at all costs."