SAFER SCHOOLS NEWS-VOL. 105

Increase in overdose deaths from cocaine or herion laced with fentanyl

At State University of New York at SUNY Geneseo a student was found inside his fraternity house in May dead.  A 20 year old student, Alex Davis died from the combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine – according to Monroe County Medical Examiner.  Davis was a member of the Phi Sigma XI fraternity at SUNY Geneseo and a 2012 graduate of Victor High School.

In the last two years there has been an increase in overdose deaths in the US from heroin laced with the powerful narcotic drug called fentanyl. This prompted the Drug Enforcement Administration to issue a national alert on Wednesday.

“Drug incidents and overdoses related to fentanyl are occurring at an alarming rate,” DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart said. She went on to say it is a “significant threat to public health and safety.”

Fentanyl, a narcotic used to manage extreme pain for patients during the final stages of diseases such as bone cancer. Fentanyl is 100 times more powerful than morphine. It is the most potent opioid available for medical use. Doctors prescribe fentanyl in micrograms rather than larger milligrams.

In past years more than 1,000 individuals died of the Fentanyl laced with herion. During 2005-2007 the overdose rate triplet to more an 1,000 in Chicago, Detroit and Philadephia until action was taken. We are starting to see an increase again in Fentanyl laced herion.

Back in 2006 in a 4 month period at least 48 people died from overdoses that was caused by a mixture of cocaine or heroin and fentanyl, said a spokeswoman for the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency.

Drug Recognition & Intervention Training Program Targets Schools & Youth Organizations

Whether a powerful cocktail of heroin and painkillers is responsible for the death of a 17-year-old Bloomfield Hills girl is unknown, but officials say it could be involved in a number of drug deaths in Michigan in 2006.

This 17 year old – Lauren Christine Jolly, was a junior at Birmingham Groves High School and was found by a passerby slumped over the wheel of her car on Eight Mile Road near Riopelle in Detroit.

In 2005, illicitly made fentanyl produced in a lab in Mexico accounted for nearly 350 deaths in Chicago.

Learn More:

• Drug Recognition & Intervention Training
• Drug Testing – False Positives for Urine Testing
• Designer Drugs increasing
• Drug Testers for Parents and Schools