Police departments, school o cials caution community about fentanyl risks REGIONAL HEALTH CARE
BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
“Anytime there is something that could potentially cause harm to our students, our sta or even our com- munity, it’s alarming,” said John Gra- ham, LISD assistant superintendent of campus activities and support. “We keep up with what’s going on in the area to make sure we are prepared and ready to be proactive in our measures to help keep our students safe.” LISD has a number of initiatives related to fentanyl overdose preven- tion and education, including stocking Narcan—a medication used to reverse overdoses—on all campuses as of the end of last school year, conducting a drug and alcohol awareness program, and partnering with law enforcement. Law enforcement seizures of pills containing illicit fentanyl increased by 3,224% between January 2018 and December 2021, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. In 2018, law enforcement seized 290,304 pills containing fentanyl. That number rose to 9.6 million in 2021, according to the NIDA. Though fentanyl is not new to the Cedar Park and Leander police departments, both agencies are continuing to monitor cases involving the drug closely while also using local partnerships to help inform residents. “We take [fentanyl] very serious,” said Justin Miller, Cedar Park Police Department sergeant. “You can just see the numbers of arrests we made to show we’re doing everything OVERDOSE DEATHS SKYROCKETING SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION COMMUNITY IMPACT From January 2019-April 2022, the number of opioid and synthetic opioid deaths in Texas more than doubled. However, the data from January 2021-April 2022 is underreported due to incomplete data.
take one.” He said there have been several instances of residents, typically people in their late teens and early 20s, taking what appears to be 30 milligram Perco- cet pills—a pain killer—and overdosing. Symptoms of a fentanyl overdose include unconsciousness, vomiting, slow or shallow breathing, pale skin, small pupils, and purple lips and n- gernails, said Jessica Cance, a senior research public health analyst, at LISD’s Sept. 27 Safety, Security, Health and Wellness Summit. To overdose, the drug must enter mucous membranes or the bloodstream. She said there have been no veri ed cases of breathing in or touching a pill causing an overdose. Fentanyl is the No. 1 leading cause of death in people ages 18-45, and 99% of overdoses are accidental, according to the Texas National Gaurd. “Most individuals who su er a fen- tanyl-related death probably did not know they were ingesting the deadly drug,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at a Sept. 21 press conference about increased fentanyl activity. Protecting the community The Leander and Cedar Park police departments have monitored fentan- yl-related activity since early 2020. During 2020 and 2021, Vann said the LPD responded to approximately 20 fentanyl overdose reports. Five of those 20 overdoses resulted in death, and in at least one instance, the fatal case was someone who had previously
we can to prevent this from hitting the streets.” A potent counterfeit drug Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used for pain management, prescribed by doctors for severe pain and advanced- stage cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the drug has been created illicitly in pill-pressing laboratories. Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the CDC. Two milligrams is the lethal dose of the drug, which is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S. The drug makes its way into the country through smuggling across the Canadian and Mexican borders, Miller said. He said counterfeit fentanyl is rel- atively inexpensive to make, very inex- pensive to buy in bulk, and distributors make more money selling fentanyl than other street drugs. Fake 30 milligram Percocet pills— round blue pills with the imprint “M 30” on them—are the most com- mon form of the drug, Leander Police Department Sgt. John Vann said. The LPD has also seen, in small quantities, Alprazolam/Xanax, cocaine and pow- der heroin containing the drug. “Due to the nature of the source of the pills, you never know how much fentanyl is contained in a speci c pill or how your body will react to it,” Vann said. “It is possible for as little as half a pill to be fatal the very rst time you
Some local police departments are working with area school districts, including Leander ISD, and other Lake Travis-Westlake-area advocates to educate the community on the risks of fentanyl following four fatal over- doses from the drug in Hays CISD in the last few months. FACTS ABOUT FENTANYL There are technically two types of fentanyl—pharmaceutical and illicitly manufactured—both of which are synthetic, though the latter is what accounts for overdoses and deaths.
the amount of fentanyl that is considered a deadly dose 2 MG
PHARMACEUTICAL
Prescribed by doctors for severe pain, advanced-stage cancer Applied via a patch on the skin
ILLICITLY MANUFACTURED
It can be mixed in with nonprescription counterfeit pills, such as oxycodone, Adderall and Xanax. More recently, it has also been distributed in colorful “rainbow fentanyl” pills resembling candy.
DEATHS
Opioids heroin, morphine, opium, oxycodone
Synthetic opioids fentanyl, methadone
3,000
95.75%
2,500
from Jan. 2019- April 2022
Coming into U.S. from: • China • Mexico • India • Canada
2,000
1,500
from Jan. 2019- April 2022 490.88%
1,000
500
0
SOURCES: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
2019
2020
2021
2022
COURTESY DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION
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