May 21, 2021
For Immediate Release – May 21, 2021
Lawrence Kansas Police Department
Adam Heffley, Interim Chief of Police
Contact: Patrick Compton (785)830-7409; lpdmedia@lkpd.org
Increased heroin overdoses in Lawrence
Lawrence has seen an increase in the number of drug overdoses recently. Unfortunately, some of those overdoses have resulted in death.
“We suspect that certain batches of heroin currently circulating in Lawrence have increased and sometimes include deadly amounts of fentanyl.” said LKPD Investigations Lt. Amy Rhoads.
What exactly are we dealing with?
Heroin
Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine. Morphine is a natural substance extracted from poppy plants grown predominately in Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico and Colombia. Heroin can be a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin.
Fentanyl
Heroin by itself can cause overdoses and be fatal in certain amounts. Unfortunately, the heroin we see predominately in the U.S. and here in Lawrence contains fentanyl. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic similar to morphine but, according to the CDC, is 50 to 100 times more potent.
Fentanyl is typically added to heroin at some point along its travels to increase amounts and potency. The adding of fentanyl is not precise, and the effects on users can be unpredictable.
Deadly amounts
“The user generally doesn’t know if or how much fentanyl was added to the heroin,” Rhoads said. “Yesterday, your dose may have been fine, but the same amount from a different batch could end up being deadly. You just don’t know, and you’re rolling the dice.”
Fentanyl is lethal in very small quantities and when mixed with heroin is extraordinarily difficult to detect with the naked eye.
An Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration offered this perspective, “about three to five grains of table salt – that’s the potential fatal dose [of fentanyl] for an adult.”
LKPD urges those who would use drugs to do it as safely as they can and have a support system in place.
DCCCA in Lawrence has resources available including prevention toolkits, counselors and even a free Naloxone program.
Naloxone is an opioid overdose reversal drug that counteracts the life-threatening effects of an overdose. DCCCA offers Naloxone to any resident or organization in the State of Kansas upon request. Their number is 785-841-4138. The Naloxone request form is located here:
www.dccca.org/naloxone-program
“You don’t need us to tell you that drugs like heroin are bad, and we’re not trying to scare people with this information,” said Interim Chief of Police Adam Heffley adding, “and we’re certainly not condoning illegal drug use. What we’re trying to do is save someone’s life.”
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