The Statesboro Police Department (SPD) has responded to seven incidents of drug overdose so far in 2023, the same number of overdoses the department witnessed in all of 2022.
"This sudden increase in overdose incidents, as well as the fatality rate, is quite alarming," said Charles Broadhead, chief of police at SPD in a press release.
In 2022, SPD officers responded to seven overdose incidents, four of which resulted in fatalities. Five of the seven overdose calls received by the department in 2023 resulted in fatalities.
Broadhead reports that illegal street drugs are currently more lethal than perhaps at any time in U.S. history. This corresponds with an increase in the presence of Fentanyl, an opioid used as an analgesic and a sedative.
Fentanyl may be as much as 100 times more powerful than morphine. A tiny amount can be lethal, and in many cases, the presence of Fentanyl is unknown to the user until it’s too late.
Manufacturers of illegal drugs are using Fentanyl to make their product more potent to the user but in many cases the manufacturer lacks the skill or subtlety to keep the amount of Fentanyl laced into other drugs at a non-lethal level.
These illegal drugs can come in the form of a pill that purports to be a legitimate pharmaceutical, or it can come in powdered or liquid form. Any illegal drug can be tainted with the use of Fentanyl.
"Users of illegal drugs are currently playing a version of Russian Roulette with catastrophic results. Our officers have been carrying Naloxone for the past few years (a drug used to counter the effects of opioid drugs) but if they cannot locate the overdose in a timely manner, it cannot be used effectively," said Broadhead.
Georgia law allows for people to have immunity from arrest or prosecution if they call for emergency help for someone suffering an overdose. Abusers of illegal drugs are asked to use extreme caution and to seek assistance with their addictions. For more information, click here.
