Fentanyl laced heroin causing overdoses

Fentanyl outbreak reaches NJ: Police say tainted heroin led to 9 overdoses, deaths

At least nine people have died or been hospitalized in New Jersey in recent months after overdosing on fentanyl-laced heroin, and law enforcement officials say they fear the potent synthetic chemical, which has been linked to dozens of deaths in the Northeast, is spreading like wildfire throughout the Garden State.

The New Jersey State Police have seen at least seven cases of seizures, overdoses or deaths from fentanyl-laced heroin in the past few weeks, said Capt. Stephen Jones, an agency spokesman. Several of those incidents occurred in Newark, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office.

In Ocean County, police found the drug hidden in wax folds bearing the stamp "Bud Light" near the bodies of two people who overdosed in Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights last month, Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said.

Toxicology tests confirmed fentanyl-laced heroin in one of the victims, according to Coronato, who said he is "almost certain" the other death was also fentanyl-related.

In Cape May County, Prosecutor Robert Taylor said investigators linked fentanyl to one overdose death and three hospitalizations last summer, and drug seizures conducted by his office have turned up at least one bag of heroin that was "100 percent" fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic form of morphine used to treat cancer patients, but is also used to increase the potency of heroin, often with deadly results. It has been linked to 22 deaths in western Pennsylvania last month and 37 deaths in Maryland since September.

Heroin stamped "Bud Ice" was one of three "brands" of fentanyl-laced heroin linked to the deaths in Pennsylvania, authorities there said.

Fentanyl, which is odorless and tasteless, is especially dangerous because there is no way for a user to know if their heroin has been laced, said Carl Kotowski, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey offices.

He said he fears addicts might actually be more inclined to abuse fentanyl, which is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

"It does improve the high, and that’s the sick thing about being a heroin addict," he said. "Word gets around on the street that this particular batch of heroin is making people overdose and die, but that addict, even though he or she has that information, they will think that’s the good stuff. They’ll be drawn to that, even knowing, ‘Hey, that could kill me.’ "

No one is entirely sure where the fentanyl-laced heroin is coming from, though Coronato believes it was brought into Ocean County from either Trenton or Camden.

Fentanyl overdoses resulted in roughly 1,000 deaths nationwide from April 2005 to March 2007, including 86 in New Jersey, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After that outbreak, federal investigators tracked the drug to underground labs in Mexico, Kotowski said.

While his office has not seized any fentanyl-laced heroin this year, Kotowski said Wednesday that reports of fentanyl overdoses in Newark and Cape May show the drug has spread throughout the state.

"It’s definitely out there," he said.

The drug-related death last Sunday of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman was initially thought to be from fentanyl-laced heroin. However, police confirmed yesterday that the chemical had no role in his death, CNN reported.

Heroin abuse has skyrocketed across New Jersey in the past three years, especially among teens and people in their early 20s who were caught up in the prescription pill boom of the late 2000s. When those addicts were unable to afford drugs like oxycodone, which often costs $25 a pill, they switched to the much cheaper heroin, often sold for $5 per dose in Newark and Paterson.

The number of people between the ages 18 to 25 who sought treatment for opiate addiction jumped by 12 percent from 2010 to 2011, records show. There were 368 deaths related to heroin in the state’s 21 counties in 2011, up from 287 in 2010, according to the state medical examiner’s office.

Source

Johnray1 wrote: Kyle,these junkies from all over the US,are a big problem for our society and the safety of our families. If they want fentanyl in their heroin,give them all they want.Johnray1

Are they a problem for society? Absolutely. Do they deserve to die because of an overdose? Hell no. I grew up with 2 very close friends who were addicts. The drug made them the person they became. No one deserves to die from an overdose. They need help desperately but they don't deserve to die from it. Addiction is a disease not a mindset.

Technophobe, I also believe that all drugs should be legal and given to people who want them. It would take the profit out it for organized crime,it would take 90% of the dangers off our streets. I have been told about meth junkies who did kill for just a cents trying to get enough money for another hit of meth. Give every kind of junky all that they want. The problem would solve itself.Johnray1

Well, people are going to get what they ask for. Colorado has legal MaryJane for everyone over 21. We already know that small children will ingest the candy, and food filled with MJ (it has already happened).   When the parents are smoking or eating the stuff and teens live in the house guess what parents think it is ok for them so the teens will be allowed to use it. Guess what is happens with booze already.

Problem is I know people who started with MJ and went on for more Philip S Hoffman most likely started with MJ as did Heath Ledger and many more.

Here is my take if people choose to become dope heads let them but don't make it easy for others like kids and teens get their hands on any kind of drugs. I tried to find out if drug addiction in the Netherland has increased and funny I can't find any stats. Maybe someone else can.

I locked up all my husbands Oxycodone, hydrocodone, and stronger when he was dying from cancer. It is still locked up in my safe so my teen could not get hold of it even now. I keep it just in case I need it when TSHTF.

The way I look at it if there are more young dope heads that don't want to work or don't work as well it will give my kid a better chance at a better job. If you keep the people stupid, doped up, or drunk, it is easier to run this country the way you want with no fight from the stupid, doped up or drunk people.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage. -- Alexis de Tocqueville

Legal dope is just another step towards bondage!

One of many silly names for cannabis. I'm one of those young folk (not the drug using kind lol), and I completely agree with you FluMom. So many people I know go to raves (I loathe them) , most go just to do the drugs and be completely out of their head (main reason I hate them). Some people I know had stupid reasons for doing it. One person did it because they didn't wanna be the only one sober while their significant other and friends were "gone" , even though it went against their principle, and that's just wrong.  This country is full of enablers, and it's just sad. I don't think they deserve to die (I would rather they got help if they truly wanted to go back to clean living, and if they don't then well, whatever happens, happens), but I do think they lack common sense to know when something is harmful to their bodies or not. "Natural drugs" such as cannabis and mushrooms are no better than any other. Also most of these things are not pure anyway outside of where there are dispensaries for cannabis (but are they really clean? Is it truly regulated?) not always, so they aren't really natural.

LOL, I forgot you all are young Mary Jane is marijuana. We use to call it that in the 60's.

I'm not much younger that you, but I've never heard of it before. Now they have so many brands of pot that I don't understand how people choose what to buy.

Can you imagine that kids from all over the country will want to go to college in Colorado now?

I remember that in the early 70's you could buy LSD on the street corner in Boulder. Cinderella City used to have drug paraphernalia shops in Cinder Alley. Remember that?

I get where you're coming from Johnray and I respect your opinion. Thanks for your anecdote, and I am glad you are here today.

Random side note, feels like AFT has a lot of California and Colorado contributors.

I have chronic pain too (MS, possibly arthritis, and maybe fibromyalgia- falling apart at 24 -_-), Kyle, it sucks :/ I don't use pain medicine because most of it doesn't work on me like hydrocodone or w/e it's called and other stuff I get side effects from. I also don't use the medical marijuana. I just changed my diet, and try and exercise more -mostly just walking- I also use essential oils. It helps a bit, as well as changing my mindset. I am glad that the medical marijuana is working for you though.

Elver, I have hunted in South western Colorado for several years now. Near Durango,CO. I have hunted there for enough years to see a marked change in that area and I know some of the people who run businesses there. The first year that I hunted there,city size lots with utilities to the property were $3,000.00. I though about buying one and I should have. The same lots are $150,000.00 if you can find one. They are building residential areas outside of Dorango, that have houses that have to be 4,000 to 6,000 sq. ft. I talked to people in Durango who owned businesses and I asked them what had happened to their area. They all told me the same thing. It was people from CA moving in and running all of the prices on everything out of sight. It has only gotten worse and is still getting worse. The locals want the people from CA to go back home,but they will not. There has been so many of them move into CO now that they have even up set the political natural of the state and have passed anti-gun laws that the people in CO do not want and they are recalling some of their representatives. Some of the counties even want to form their own state.  The CA people have ruined CO.They need to go back to CA. I live in WV and I really hope that the CA people do not start moving here.Johnray1

We were in Helena, Montana a few years ago and several people had complained about the Californians moving up there. The gas station attendant, our waitress, and a friend of ours all complained about them moving in and changing their culture.

Only in Helena will you find a newspaper with a real lost and found section where people find cameras, car keys, bicycles, jewelry, and actually try to locate the owners of these items. I doubt you'd find that hardly anywhere else in this country.