Surge in Fentanyl Laced Heroin Threatens Responders

CNRB suits are recommended in
crime scenes involving fentanyl exposure
(US Navy photo)

As prescription drugs have become harder to obtain and harder to get a high from, opioid addicts have been turning to heroin, both in Indian Country and throughout the nation. This demand has inspired Mexican cartels and other drug traffickers to start cutting the heroin they distribute with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a legal, but very dangerous drug that has legitimate use as a painkilling analgesic. It's 80-100 times more potent than morphine, and as little as 0.7 nanograms (one billionth of a gram) is enough to cause death in a user, especially combined with other drugs. The potency of the drug seems like a boon to manufacturers, but in reality, it's difficult to reduce pure fentanyl to levels safe for ingestion. The DEA, who recently issued an urgent warning about fentanyl and fentanyl analogues,  estimated a single seizure of 5800 grams of fentanyl prevented some 46 million doses from hitting the street.
The upper threshold for lethal exposure is 2 milligrams, and can be absorbed by the skin, in the air, in food or in water. In general, only laboratory testing can establish the presence of fentanyl in heroin, making it even more dangerous for law enforcement responding to a crime scene.

The CDC recommends a minimum of coveralls, boots and gloves when responding to an area where the concentration of fentanyl is known to be below the level of acceptable exposure, which is listed as "undetermined."  The CDC additionally recommends that responders wear full protective gear, including respirators and suits rated for chemical exposure, if the level of fentanyl contamination is unknown.

Tribal law enforcement faces a difficult balance of continuing to respond to emergency calls involving heroin use, distribution, and overdoses, and maintaining a safe distance until officer safety can be established. Police departments should stay on top of trends and note spiking trends in overdoses, which may indicate the presence of fentanyl in the supply chain. If the presence of fentanyl is suspected at a crime scene, serious precautions should be taken in investigating the area, collecting and transporting the evidence, decontaminating officers, victims and remains, and in testing the evidence.

The remedy for exposure to a toxic level of fentanyl is intravenous administration of naloxone. Just as some police departments are making naloxone kids part of standard issue equipment, the Blood Tribe of Canada is training tribal members to administer naloxone, as part of an effort to stem an epidemic of overdoses from fentanyl-laced drugs.

The Growing Threat of Fentanyl | Create infographics

Parents, Tribes Not Enthused About Legal Marijuana

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in two states and for medical use in 19 states plus Washington DC (as of this writing).  Investors are excited about opportunities to create a "clean American brand" for legal marijuana, and to invest in marijuana-laced edibles, a fast-growing sector. But lots of people from tribal governments to parents, are worried about the effects of legal marijuana.

Tribes can pass laws to decriminalize marijuana, but so far most tribes firmly oppose marijuana use on tribal land, even though legalization has created something of a jurisdictional nightmare for tribal police. Tribal members can use legal or medical marijuana outside tribal borders but not on tribal lands. In the absence of specific laws prohibiting use, non-Indians can use medical marijuana on tribal lands without fear of reprisal, since the Justice Department is refraining from prosecuting medical users.

However, that hasn't stopped the Salt River Maricopa-Pima Indian Community from seizing vehicles driven by state-licensed medical marijuana patients. The tribe released a statement saying,"People who transport drugs in any jurisdiction face the possibility that they will be arrested, prosecuted, and that the vehicles they use to transport drugs may be seized." The Northern Cheyenne Tribe refused an exemption for a medical marijuana user awaiting trial. Some tribes are even going head to head with states over local prohibitions against marijuana dispensaries. Other tribes, like the Navajo Nation (which lies in two medical marijuana states), are still debating decriminalization. The tax advantage of selling legal marijuana would benefit Washington tribes in the same way that tobacco sales do, which might be more appealing if tribes weren't so thoroughly tired of cartels running grow operations on tribal lands.

Tribal officials aren't the only one who want to put the brakes on legalization. A survey of parents in Washington and Colorado show that although a majority of parents support legalization, they want to ensure that legal marijuana stays out of the hands of children, and is not advertised or used in places where children can see it. Poison control experts who sounded an alarm about the dangers of children ingesting medical marijuana have advocated in favor of childproof containers, and education programs that advise parents to treat medical marijuana the way they would any prescription drug-- secured and away from kids.

For more about issues with prescription drugs and drug endangered children in Indian Country, join us at our upcoming two-day training in Spokane, WA!

Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Saturday, September 29

Coming To A Site Near You

The best way not to become a party to prescription drug abuse is to avoid having drugs in the house that are unused or expired. Prescription and over the counter drugs should never be flushed or put down the drain, to avoid contaminating the water supply. Instead, they must be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

To make disposing of unused drugs easier, the DEA will be accepting any pills or liquids you have lying around your house, between 10 am and 2 pm on Monday, September 29. To find the nearest collection site, go to the DEA website to search by your zip code. You can also call 1-800-882-9539 for more information about the program.

Great News from the DEA

The Drug Enforcement Agency announced today that they would be regulating 26 synthetic drugs under the Controlled Substances Act under Schedule I including several synthetic cannabinoids and the "2 C family" of hallucinogens that have been in the news recently.

We applaud all such actions on the part of the government, as it will clear up many jurisdictional issues with Indian Country smoke shops. However, as I pointed out not too long ago for Indian Country Today, when you start with 450 known compounds, banning some is a good start, but doesn't address the whole problem. A more comprehensive approach is to change the culture in which sales of these harmful chemicals can thrive, even when they're labeled "not for human consumption."

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day April 28

Unused prescription drugs can be a danger to everyone in your home, but it can be difficult to dispose of drugs without harming the environment. The DEA is hosting another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day all across the nation on April 28. At the last event in November, the DEA collected nearly 200 tons of expired or unused drugs. If you're a law enforcement department interested in hosting an event, call the DEA point of contact for your area. The DEA has downloadable posters and other materials to help you host an event.


If you would like to turn in unneeded, unused or expired drugs, call 1-800-882-9539 to find the take-back site closest to you.