HealthLinksSC.com | 73 CHARLESTON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY Locally, in Charleston County, the Post and Courier reported on December 5, 2023 that cocaine laced with fentanyl and disguised as ADHD medication was found in a bathroom at Lucy Beckham High School in Mount Pleasant. The Charleston County School District said that the problem was not limited to just one high school, but that it was instead a “community problem” and one that many other schools in the area were dealing with as well. A bag of fentanyl is usually just a tiny corner of a sandwich bag. Two grains, the size of two grains of salt, can be enough to overdose. People can snort fentanyl, take it orally, shoot it like an IV or skin pop it. Skin popping involves injecting the drug under the skin. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says fentanyl is the most common type of drug involved in overdose deaths in the United States. Most people can get it for just $100 a day. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services in South Carolina, 42% of fake pills tested have at least 2 mg of fentanyl, which is a potentially lethal dose. The CDC reports that in the United States, 150 people die every day from fentanyl-related overdoses. The DAODAS also reported that there are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Both are considered synthetic opioids. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain, especially after surgery and for advanced-stage cancer. However, most recent cases of fentanyl-related overdoses are linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, which is distributed through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect. It is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive and more dangerous, according to DAODAS. Dr. Allen Jackson recently retired from Liberty Doctors but continues to work three days a week as a local methadone clinic director, which he has been doing for 20 years. He said that fentanyl is made in China and has come into the United States through Mexico. A fairly new crisis, the DAODAS reports that there were 71 deaths in South Carolina involving fentanyl in 2019, but in 2020, that number more than doubled to 144. The number was at 139 for 2021, and numbers are still being calculated for 2022, according to DAODAS. The DEA put out a statement in the spring of 2022 with a warning. The warning stated: “Fentanyl is highly-addictive, found in all 50 states, and drug traffickers are increasingly mixing it with other illicit drugs — in powder and pill form — in an effort to drive addiction and attract repeat buyers. These mass-overdose events typically occur in one of the following recurring scenarios: when drug dealers sell their product as cocaine, when it actually contains fentanyl; or when drug dealers sell pills designed to appear nearly identical to legitimate prescriptions, but are actually fake prescription pills containing fentanyl. This is creating a frightening nationwide trend where many overdose victims are dying after unknowingly ingesting fentanyl.” The warning went on to state that fentanyl is driving the nationwide overdose epidemic. The CDC estimates that in the 12-month period ending in October 2021, more than 105,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, with 66% of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. In 2020, the United States suffered more fentanyl-related deaths than gun- and auto-related deaths combined, according to the DEA press release. “Let us be clear: These poisonings are part of a strategic maneuver by the cartels and it must be stopped,” the DEA warning stated. The DEA is working diligently to trace mass-overdose events back to the local drug trafficking organizations and international cartels responsible for the surging domestic supply of fentanyl. The DEA continues to seize fentanyl at record rates. In the first three months of 2022, the DEA seized almost 2,000 pounds of fentanyl and one million fake pills, according to the DEA press release. In 2021, the DEA seized more than 15,000 pounds of fentanyl — four times the amount seized in 2017 — which is enough to kill every American, the release added. According to Dr. Jackson, the problem runs deep and the solutions will not be easy to come by. He noted that these days, smoking marijuana is stronger than it ever was before and it is “absolutely a gateway drug to fentanyl and other opioids.” He said, “90% of people that smoke weed become addicted to it.”
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