Carfentanil vs Fentanyl: What You Need to Know to Stay Safe

The opioid epidemic remains one of the most pressing public health issues in America since it emerged several years ago. Understanding the difference between Carfentanil vs Fentanyl, two powerful pain medications, can help curb the epidemic and get people the treatment they need. 

What began as common prescriptive use led to widespread misuse, as opioids — synthetic drugs derived from the opium poppy plant — have mutated into culprits of abuse, dependency and a troubling amount of drug overdose deaths, where mortality rates remain higher for men than in women.  

Among other similar drugs, fentanyl may arguably be one of the most problematic players in the opioid abuse story. Taking center stage due to its potency and affordable availability on the illicit drug market, it’s ushered in a swath of addictions and fatalities. 

But one troubling trait of an opioid abuse disorder is the search for a better, stronger high at all costs, even if it means experimenting with drugs not meant for human consumption.  

Carfentanil, whose lethal potential only serves to complicate the crisis, is one of the deadliest opioids, even more than fentanyl. “The presence of carfentanil in illicit U.S. drug markets is cause for concern,” notes the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), “as the relative strength of this drug could lead to an increase in carfentanil overdose and overdose-related deaths, even among opioid-tolerant users.” 

How do carfentanil vs. fentanyl compare? Learn more about their similarities, their differences and how can you stay safe from the risks they pose. 

What Is Carfentanil? 

Carfentanil is actually an analog of fentanyl, but much more potent and deadly. It has 100 times the potency of fentanyl and is 10,000 times more potent than morphine. 

It was developed 50 years ago by chemists at Janssen Pharmaceutica and introduced to the veterinary market in 1986, where, under the name Wildnil, it’s used to tranquilize very large animals, mainly elephants, and is not intended for human use. 

How is Carfentanil Made?

Most of it originates from unregulated chemical labs, often overseas, made inexpensively to find its way into the U.S. illicit drug market, where carfentanil drug production is illegally manufactured. What does carfentanil look like? It generally appears as a white carfentanil powder substance that can be confused with heroin or cocaine — one reason why it’s often added to those drugs or to counterfeit opioid and carfentanil pills. 

The carfentanil street name (for both fentanyl and carfentanil) varies, but its most common monikers, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration, include Apache, China Girl, China White, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfella, Gray Death, Jackpot, Murder 8, TNT and Tango and Cash. 

What Is Fentanyl? 

Like codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s been used clinically since 1968 primarily as a surgical anesthetic and analgesic following surgery.  

Fentanyl is also prescribed for chronic pain, severe cancer pain, nerve damage, back injury and major trauma.  

Opioids like fentanyl are effective when prescribed because they work to stimulate your brain’s opioid receptors to block pain signals traveling between the brain and the part of your body you’re feeling pain.  

However, fentanyl’s potency — it’s 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine — means that it doesn’t take much for someone to become tolerant, and then dependent on the drug, prompting one to take more and more of it to reach their desired effect.  

The intense feelings of euphoria produced by taking fentanyl — part of its proven pain management effects — are just one reason why people seek it out recreationally. On the street level, fentanyl, like carfentanil, comes as a powder and can be injected, smoked, snorted or ingested in pill format.  

“People use fentanyl because it is cheap to manufacture and a small amount goes a long way,” notes the National Harm Reduction Coalition.  

Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, such as heroin, meth, cocaine, MDMA and even non-opioids like xylazine, to increase potency, frequently without the user’s knowledge, making it difficult to determine the dosage or potency you may be taking, however small. 

“Using any opioids for their euphoric effect, even for a short time,” notes Johns Hopkins Medicine, “raises the risk of substance use disorder, overdose and death.” 

Opioid Abuse Statistics  

As we enter 2025, the scale and scope of the opioid crisis reminds us that proper awareness and intervention is needed to prevent abuse of drugs like carfentanil vs. fentanyl: 

• Annually, more than 10 million people misuse opioids. 

• Nearly 50,000 people die from an opioid overdose each year — 42,700 from fentanyl. 

• Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (like carfentanil) are part of 19.8% of all overdose deaths. 

• 1 kilogram of fentanyl contains 250,000 lethal doses. 

• Prescription opioids factor into 32% of all opioid overdose deaths. 

Nationwide, West Virginia leads the country in opioid deaths per capita, with New Hampshire, at 91.2%, having the highest rate of opioid overdose among all overdose deaths, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics. 

A December 2024 PBS report notes that while rates are declining, there are still more than 74,000 Americans who succumb from fatal opioid drug overdoses each year. Opioid abuse still looms large in large quantities; according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), law enforcement seized more than 115 million pills containing illicit fentanyl last year — representing almost half of all fentanyl seizures compared to just 10 percent seven years ago. 

The Difference Between Carfentanil vs Fentanyl   

Both drugs are synthetic opioids, but it’s one of the few similarities they share. Fentanyl, although widely exploited and misused, is safe to use as a pain management medication when administered as prescribed — whereas carfentanil, far more potent than fentanyl, is not designed for human medical use. 

Which Is More Dangerous?  

Comparing carfentanil vs. fentanyl almost seems counterintuitive since there is little in the way of safe recreational usage of either drug. But carfentanil’s lethality clearly surpasses fentanyl’s. Combined with its incompatibility for human use, it’s the more dangerous substance overall.

Even tiny amounts of carfentantil powder can pose immense risks. “Fentanyl and carfentanil may be deadly if they are injected,” notes the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “They are so strong that even touching or inhaling them can be lethal,” which may pose dangers to first responders in emergency situations who may accidentally touch or inhale carfentanil.