Officials: More than half of South Carolina fake pills contained fentanyl
Deparment of Drug and Alcohol Abuse urges caution
Deparment of Drug and Alcohol Abuse urges caution
Deparment of Drug and Alcohol Abuse urges caution
Fentanyl was found in more than half of the fake pills tested in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
"The main message that we want to get out to anyone is just one fake pill can kill," said Michelle Nienhius, the department's manager for prevention and intervention services.
What the agency is also seeing, Nienhius said, is that teens and young adults are buying the fake pills, which they believe to be real, online or through social media.
"We see that folks are buying things online or on the streets and they think they’re buying a Xanax, they think they’re buying an Adderall (or) something like that and then it’s not what it was intended to be. It is a counterfeit pill that could be deadly," said Nienhius.
The DEA calls Fentanyl the deadliest drug threat facing the country. It is up to 100 times more potent than morphine.
"It’s tasteless, it’s odorless. You’re talking something, size comparison-wise, as small as three grains of salt, is enough to kill somebody," said Shelton England, Senior Deputy Coroner of the Greenville County Coroner's Office.
The Greenville County Coroner's Office said in 2013 there were 66 overdoses, four of which involved fentanyl.
So far this year, out of 163 overdoses, 112 of them involved fentanyl.
"When we go out and educate in schools that’s one of the big things I try to tell kids, I’m like look, even just taking a pill because you got a headache from your friend it could be laced with fentanyl," said England. "I mean, we’re seeing pills every day that are manufactured in someone’s garage and has fentanyl laced in it."
SC DAODAS said awareness and access to resources are crucial, including naloxone and fentanyl test strips. The group said those resources and others can be found at the Phoenix Center and FAVOR Upstate.
Nienhius said you should not take prescription pills that haven't been prescribed to you.
The Greenville County Coroner's Office said it is also seeing fentanyl in just about every drug from heroin to marijuana.
England said education and awareness are key.
"Right now, it's education and letting people know that you may try something one time and then, unfortunately, we may be knocking on your family's door and telling them that you lost your life," he said.