Police warn of 'rainbow fentanyl' in Monroe County

Rochester, N.Y. — The dangerous drug known as rainbow fentanyl is now confirmed to be on the streets of Monroe County.

"We never thought we’d have something that looks like candy coming in and being fentanyl," said Deputy Michael Favata from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Police say the brightly colored pills are being used by traffickers to target kids and young adults — and get them hooked.

Just ahead of Halloween, police are warning that the drug looks like candy, is 50 times stronger than heroin and could be deadly.

"To even think about giving it to teenagers on the street is just so ungodly," said Dean Lucas, who lost his 27-year-old son to a heroin-fentanyl overdose in 2016.

Lucas said he fears for his teenage granddaughter and other children.

"There is no way you can take fentanyl on your own," Lucas said. "The dosage, you don’t know how much is in each pill that they would take or a piece of candy that they would take. One would do away with that 13-year-old."

Favata is part of the sheriff's heroin task force. He said the task force first discovered rainbow fentanyl, also known as M30, last year — and now it's back.

"It has come across here sporadically throughout some investigations," Favata said. "We don’t have any of it linked to any fatal overdoses or an overdose in general."

Favata said fentanyl is the leading cause of overdoses in Monroe County. Most occur in people in their 30s.

Rainbow fentanyl could change that.

"Drug dealers are businessmen," Favata said. "They want to expand on their business and get younger people addicted, but we can’t confirm any of that. It’s the only thing we can think of."

As Halloween approaches, Favata and Lucas want to give a bit of advice to parents.

"Check your candy," Favata said. "I remember growing up it was the razor blades in apples or we had to look for needles, that was the big thing. So parents are ripping everything open that’s where we’re at."

"It's basically on parents and adults to show them the pictures of what it looks like and to be with your child," Lucas said. "Basically, that would be the end — and there’s no way that someone should bury their child like I had to."