DEA issues public safety alert lethal fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has issued another public safety alert warning Americans of a “sharp nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.” Six of 10 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills its experts analyzed in 2022 contained a potentially lethal dose, the DEA says, an increase from 4 out of 10 pills tested last year. “More than half of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills being trafficked in communities across the country now contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said. “This marks a dramatic increase – from four out of ten to six out of ten – in the number of pills that can kill. “These pills are being mass-produced by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel, in Mexico,” she said, referring to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), a deadly rival of the Sinaloa. For the past two years, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said, “the cartels have been emboldened by Biden administration’s open border policies that are killing Americans.” In March 2021, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to interdict Mexican cartel-linked criminal activity coming through the southern border. He also recently designated the Sinaloa and JCNG cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and called on President Joe Biden to do the same. Abbott hasn’t heard back. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and 17 attorneys general also called on Biden to classify illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. They also haven’t received a reply. The DEA’s public safety alert comes after Texas’ OLS officers have seized over 352 million lethal doses of fentanyl since last March, enough to kill everyone in the U.S. It also comes after Florida law enforcement officers in the last few months seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Florida. That was after they after shut down a major drug trafficking operation run by gang members affiliated with Mexican cartels and seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly half of Florida’s population. And after DEA agents earlier this year, in a three-month operation, seized 10.2 million fake pills in all 50 states after they’d seized more than 20.4 million fake prescription pills in 2021. Moody has increasingly been warning Americans that “one pill can kill,” especially rainbow fentanyl being used to target children because it looks like candy. Her office has published a Fast Facts on Fentanyl Toolkit as well as information about digital dealers who are using social media apps targeting minors. The DEA has also published an Emoji Drug Code identifying symbols used to communicate with minors about drugs. Texas also launched a “one pill can kill” public service campaign. Americans are urged to never take a pill that isn’t prescribed by a doctor, from a friend or purchase anything through social media. “Fentanyl has flooded into the country, and Joe Biden continues to look the other way as Mexican drug cartels smuggle massive amounts of this deadly opioid across our southwest border,” Moody said. Addressing the president, she said: “Biden, do your job, secure the border and help us end this opioid crisis.” After receiving the precursors from China, the cartels manufacture fake pills in Mexico to look like real prescription pills like OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax, and others that are laced with fentanyl. “Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country,” the DEA says. The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Two milligrams, roughly the weight of a mosquito, and small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose. According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug poisoning in 2021; 66% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Mississippi lawmakers on track to ban herbal drug Kratom
Mississippi lawmakers appear on track to pass legislation to ban kratom, an herbal drug that can be used for pain relief. Kratom is currently unregulated in most parts of the United States but has been outlawed by some states, including neighboring Alabama. A few local governments in Mississippi have also banned the substance amid concerns that it can be harmful. This is the second consecutive year lawmakers in the state have tried to either ban or regulate the green powdered substance. Rep. Lee Yancey, a Republican who leads the committee with jurisdiction over drug policy, told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that he will advance legislation to ban Kratom. Kratom is derived from a tree that’s native to Southeast Asia. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says the leaves can be crushed and then smoked, put into capsules, or taken with water or other liquids. The drug has been used to relieve muscle strains and as a substitute for opium; it has also been used to manage withdrawal symptoms from opioids. In 2017, the federal Department of Health and Human Services recommended kratom be given Schedule I status. The department rescinded this recommendation in 2018. A government report released in 2019 said kratom use was related to 91 overdose deaths in 27 states. Most who died had also taken heroin, fentanyl or other drugs. But kratom was the only substance detected in seven of the deaths. Members of Mississippi’s House Drug Policy Committee on Monday heard from both physicians who want the product banned and representatives of the Kratom industry who touted the drugs’ pain-relieving effects. “Of all the studies that have been done, the risk of using kratom far outweighs the benefits,” said Dr. Randy Easterling, a former Mississippi State Medical Association president. Mac Haddow, a senior fellow on public policy for the American Kratom Association, told lawmakers that when someone dies from a kratom overdose, it’s usually because the product has been tainted with other substances. Haddow proposed that lawmakers should keep kratom legal, but ban minors under 21 from purchasing it. Maddow also suggested lawmakers require the supplement to be “unadulterated.” Kratom can be ordered online. It can also be purchased at gas stations and convenience stores in Mississippi. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Rural Florida county shocked by fentanyl deaths over holiday
A small, largely rural county west of Florida’s capital experienced an unheard-of spike in deadly drug overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl over the July 4 weekend, with nine people dying in the latest sign that a national crisis is becoming even more far-reaching. In all of 2021, Gadsden County had just ten overdoses, Sheriff Morris Young said. He couldn’t recall any being fatal. The state had even rejected a grant application to treat fentanyl overdoses because the county of about 43,700 people couldn’t definitively identify any cases involving the powerful synthetic opioid. Then last Friday, calls to emergency services began flooding in. In addition to the nine deaths over the holiday weekend, another nine people were treated for suspected fentanyl overdoses. “It’s shaken the entire community. I feel their pain,” Young said Wednesday. “I’m really treating this like we had a hurricane coming into town. It means that much to me that we could lose people in such a short period of time.” Gadsden County is largely known for its vegetable and livestock farms, historic Southern buildings, and antique shops. Many families have known each other for generations. County Commission Chairman Ron Green said among the families of victims he knew were the children of a woman in her 60s who died over the weekend. “They didn’t even realize their mother was using again,” Green said. “This brought an alarming notice to them. Unfortunately, it’s too late.” While the victims were 34 or older, Green worries younger people could be endangered “if we can’t hurry up and get it off the streets.” Fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, and dealers lace it in with other illegal drugs to boost their addictiveness. Law enforcement officials say most people affected don’t know it’s in the illegal drugs they’re buying — in amounts that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily be deadly. The problem has become so acute that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning three months ago about what it called “mass-overdose events.” It cited dozens of deaths in more than a half-dozen clusters in recent months in locations ranging from the small town of Cortez, Colorado, with fewer than 9,000 residents, to major cities such as Washington, D.C. DISC Village is a nonprofit drug treatment center with services throughout Florida’s Big Bend, the cluster of counties where the Panhandle meets the state’s peninsula. It includes Gadsden County as well as Tallahassee, the state capital. “In these last six months, I’ve seen the most overdoses that I’ve ever seen since I’ve been working here,” said Jennifer Travieso, who has worked at DISC for 17 years. “It’s definitely fentanyl, and it’s in drugs we wouldn’t expect it to be in, for example, cocaine or marijuana or methamphetamines.” “For the dealers, with fentanyl and other opioids, they want to make sure people get hooked to keep their sales up,” Young said. He gave an example of just how powerful the addiction can be. One of the men treated for an overdose on Friday was released from a hospital Sunday, only to return after a second overdose on Tuesday. Young said he had helped the same man get a job about a month ago. “This is the scary part,” Young said. “These people, even with the fear of the fentanyl and that they could die, they’re still going to take a chance going out there and getting these drugs. These are some of the addicts that are truly, truly addicted.” He said investigators are trying to trace the source of the drugs laced with fentanyl. He believes it arrived in the county prepackaged, so it’s possible local dealers weren’t aware they were selling fentanyl. Either way, he wants severe punishment for those involved. “We’re hoping to push these cases to murder cases,” Young said. Young and other law enforcement plan to meet Thursday with officials from the Department of Children and Families and the state’s surgeon general to discuss how to address the problem. Young said EMTs have access to overdose treatments like naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, but deputies do not. He said he wants to immediately get supplies in the hands of his officers and have them trained on their use. “Fentanyl was not even on my radar, and that changed about 9 o’clock on Friday night,” Young said. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabamians encouraged to participate in Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
Do you have unused prescription drugs collecting dust in your medicine cabinet? Well it’s time to clean them out this Saturday. Saturday marks the 16th annual DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day where at approximately 50 collection sites across the state, Alabamians can safely toss their unwanted, unused prescription medications. Sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the program was created to combat the abuse or misuse of potentially dangerous medicines that have expired or are no longer needed for those whom these controlled substances were prescribed. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., law enforcement officers will be present at sites across the state to receive unused prescription drugs for safe and proper disposal. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is encouraging Alabamians to participate. “Prescription Drug Take-Back is a valuable public service that protects our children, our homes and our environment,” said Marshall. “As a long-time prosecutor, I have too often witnessed the tragic results caused by the availability of dangerous controlled substances. When prescription drugs are left in our homes, children and teenagers may be poisoned or fall prey to drug abuse and addiction. Your old medications can be a lure to criminals looking for drugs to use or sell.” He continued, “On Saturday, October 27, please take the opportunity to remove these hazards by bringing prescription drugs that are out-of-date or no longer needed to collection sites for their safe and proper disposal.” History of the Take-back event in Alabama Since the first Take-Back event in Alabama, in September of 2010, the program continues to increase in the amount of drugs collected. Throughout all of Alabama’s previous DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back events, a total of about 66,805 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired drugs have been removed and disposed of safely. Deliveries of drugs to DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events are confidential, with no personal information collected and no questions asked. Participants are encouraged to remove labels or black-out information beforehand. A listing of sites may be found through a search at www.DEATakeBack.com. If you do not find your area listed on the DEA website, please check with your local law enforcement officials to see if they may be participating in a Take-Back event.
