What is fentanyl and why is it killing so many people?
When Beth Underwood begins testing a powdery, white substance, at the Bureau of Criminal Investigation's chemistry lab in London, Ohio, most of the time, it's heroin.
But there is a new drug, 30-50 times more potent, that is starting to be found with alarming regularity — fentanyl.
According to new data released today from the Ohio Department of Health, the powerful opioid is responsible for more than 1,100 deaths in 2015 alone, a number that has more than doubled from the previous year. Fentanyl is now second only to heroin in drug-related deaths statewide.
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Underwood, a BCI forensic scientist, said fentanyl permeates the blood-brain barrier faster than heroin and its chemical composition, though similar to heroin, makes it far stronger. The substance is usually prescribed to advanced cancer patients for pain management.
Attorney General Mike DeWine said the drug was first recovered by law enforcement in small quantities, usually as an element that heroin had been laced with. The Ohio Department of Health didn't even record deaths related to fentanyl until 2007 with only four reported that year.
But quickly, the drug has risen to be responsible for more deaths last year than other prescription medications, such as oxycodone or codeine.
"When you take heroin, you never know what really you're taking," DeWine said, adding that, even though prescription medications are dangerous, there is still an element of quality control.
Dealers also have a higher profit margin with fentanyl and promise users a better high. "You’re not going to see it on TV, but there’s a lot of street marketing going on," DeWine said.
The amount of substance varies per case, but in the first six months of 2016, cases of fentanyl are up to almost 1,400 statewide. When compared to the 2015 total of 1,110, fentanyl cases are slated to more than double this year at BCI.
On the other hand, heroin cases for the first half of 2016 remain at 3,664. With last year's total equaling 6,832, DeWine said it appears the amount of heroin cases has leveled off.
With the increase of fentanyl and its related substances showing up at BCI labs, new safety precautions had to be taken.
Jessica Toms, the quality assurance supervisor of the London facility, said fentanyl and its related substances can be absorbed much easier than heroin. Protective eyewear and a ventilator were added to protect the scientists after bricks of 3-methylfentanyl — a slightly stronger version — were dropped off at one lab.
Following the added precautions, DeWine alerted Ohio law enforcement agencies to be more careful when administering field tests as well, advising similar protective gear.
Toms, despite no incident having happened yet, also took the proactive step of upping the supply of naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid-related overdose, in each lab. Two kits, which contain four doses total, are on hand in the unlikely event of accidental ingestion by one of the scientists.
