SALT LAKE CITY — Fentanyl on the street is a growing concern across the United States and here in Utah.
Although officials say it might not be a cause for panic, it is still important to be aware of.
“I haven’t heard about it in this area too much, but I feel like it’s been a very prevalent issue across the U.S., and I’m sure it’s spreading to Utah just like everything else is,” said Johnny Hansen, who has lived in the Salt Lake area for years along with his wife Anna. "It's spooky."
The Hansens said they have seen drug activity on the rise recently.
"We don’t need any more drugs here, because more drugs usually means more crime,” Anna Hansen added.
Law enforcement officials want to warn people about the recent rise of fentanyl overdoses across the state of Utah.
“We are seeing an increase in overdose cases that we’re responding to, and I know [Unified Fire Authority] is the same,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
The concern is that someone might not know they are taking fentanyl because it could be laced into a different drug. The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency reported that 4 out of every 10 pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.
“It only takes a very small amount of fentanyl to become a lethal dose — only two milligrams,” said Salt Lake City Police Department Lt. Sam Wolf, who leads the Salt Lake County DEA Taskforce. “Two milligrams is just 10-15 grains of salt or just a little bit of powder — enough to just fill the tip of a pencil.”
Police say they have seized rainbow fentanyl this month here in Utah. Sheriff Rivera added that these colors could be aimed at “targeting a younger group of individuals so they can get them addicted and then they’re long term.”
But experts say they aren’t worried about drugs mixed with kids' candy.
“While some of these pills and some of these forms of fentanyl might look like candy and be colorful, at this point, we have no reason to believe that families and parents should be concerned about Halloween candy being contaminated,” said Dr. Graham Brant-Zawadzki, the medical director for Unified Fire Authority.
Michael Moss with the Utah Poison Control Center said the general public doesn’t need to be as worried about being poisoned with fentanyl. For example, if you pick up a pain prescription at a pharmacy, those are regulated drugs and won’t be laced. The dangers are mainly isolated to the illegal drug market.
“We’ve had fentanyl show up for a while as just regular fake oxycodone pills that may look like prescription ones, and that was a blue one,” Moss said. “But now recently, we’ve seen them pop up with different colors of fentanyl — whether that’s to differentiate themselves from other suppliers or whatever else.”
Medical officials and police recommend that if anyone knows someone who uses opioids, they should have extra Narcan or naloxone kits on hand and know how to use them — just in case a pill has a high dose of fentanyl.
“Home naloxone kits are available at pharmacies across Utah, and many of these pharmacies don’t require prescriptions, and you can just pick them up there," said Dr. Brant-Zawadzki.
Utahns can find where to obtain naloxone or Narcan by visiting utahnaloxone.org. The Utah Poison Control Center also has additional resources.
