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The number of fentanyl-related deaths has risen by more than 1,000 percent during the past five years in Orange County, Calif., according to the local sheriffâs department.
Data released by the Orange County Sheriffâs Department (OCSD) showed that 37 people were poisoned by the drug in 2016. There were 57 deaths in 2017, 134 deaths in 2018, and 165 deaths in 2019.
Fentanyl killed 432 people in 2020.
The drug, which is 100 times more potent than morphine, can be lethal at just 2 milligrams, depending on a personâs size and tolerance.
âOne of the things with fentanyl is itâs cheaper to manufacture, so thereâs been a shift from other illicit drugs to fentanyl,â OCSD Sgt. Todd Hylton told The Epoch Times. âThe problem is itâs also 50 times more potent than heroin.
âSo because itâs cheaper and because itâs more potent, it has become more prevalent in the communities. But because itâs manufactured illicitly, not every fentanyl pill has the same amount,â Hylton said. âThese are made in clandestine manufacturing operations, so the potency isnât consistent; where one pill may or may not have a lethal dose, another pill may.â
Another issue with fentanyl is that many times, users might not even know they are taking the drug, due to how itâs manufactured.
While some users could go out looking to buy fentanyl, others buy different drugs off the street that have fentanyl mixed in. Drug traffickers mix in fentanyl due to its low price to add to the âhighâ of the original drug, and this can easily become a lethal dose.
âThese people that are making fentanyl, theyâre stamping and creating pills that may look like an actual pharmaceutical, but itâs actually an illicit drug that has nothing to do with it,â Hylton said. âAnd even then, letâs say that somebody gets two pills, one might contain a lethal dose and the other might not, and they donât even realize that the pills are fentanyl, they might think they are Xanax or OxyContin or something.â
The OCSD is utilizing a âsupply and demandâ approach to combat the surge. For the supply side, the department has increased its enforcement by examining how the drug is trafficked into the county, and is increasing the amount of fentanyl being seized.
âOur seizures have been increasing throughout the years, as [fentanyl] has become more prevalent,â Hylton said. âThe number of pills and the actual pounds that weâve seized has been good, and also trying to determine how individual people came about it.â
On the demand side, the OCSD is deploying resources to educate people about how dangerously potent and deadly fentanyl is.
Despite the large gap between 2019 and 2020 fentanyl-related deaths, Hylton noted that itâs not possible to determine whether the increase is due in any way to the pandemic, which has resulted in an increase in drug and alcohol abuse due to economic shutdowns and quarantines.
Although exact figures werenât immediately available for 2021, the department is seeing a downward trend in fentanyl poisonings.