US
Police Arrest Man Allegedly Stockpiling Prescription Fentanyl Sprays
No featured image available
Authorities in Louisiana arrested a man Thursday for suspected distribution after they found a stockpile of prescription fentanyl products in his home.
A task force consisting of officers from several local police departments and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested 32-year-old Daniel McCann at his residence in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, following an investigation of suspected drug suppliers in the region. Officers found more than 750 sublingual fentanyl sprays and 11 thermal fentanyl patches, each containing between 75 and 100 milligrams of the synthetic opioid, reports WGNO.
Officials note it only takes roughly two milligrams of fentanyl, which is roughly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, to cause a fatal overdose. An unidentified person living at the residence confirmed to officers they received fentanyl in the mail through a prescription they attained for a back injury two-years ago, however, McCann denies the allegations. (RELATED: Study: States Might Be Undercounting Opioid Deaths By As Much As 70,000)
“When you take that much fentanyl from a residence or off street you are saving lives,” said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards, according to WGNO. “The joint efforts between the local and federal law enforcement agencies in this investigation have single handedly affected countless lives by removing this product from being a potential threat or from being distributed throughout our community.”
Data released by officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention July 11 shows the majority of opioid-linked deaths are now the result of synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
The report shows synthetic opioids killed roughly 27,000 people across the U.S. over the 12-month period ending November 2017, up from roughly 19,413 lives in 2016 and 9,580 lives in 2015. The sharp increase prompted a Health Alert Network warning from CDC officials advising of the ever-increasing presence of synthetic opioids in the drug supply, including in non-opioid narcotics such as cocaine.
“The dramatic rise in the supply of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs has been mirrored by an equally dramatic rise in deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, a category which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs,” officials said in the report, according to NBC News. “This 12-month sum of synthetic opioid overdose deaths exceeds the total number of all opioid overdose deaths in 2013, when deaths involving synthetic opioids first began to climb.”
The health alert warns that first responders may not be aware of the amount of synthetic opioids floating around drug supplies in their community. It says patients suffering opioid overdoses may require increased care and “prolonged dosing of naloxone in the ED hospital setting due to a delayed toxicity that has been reported in some cases.”
Nationally, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under age 50, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].