(Atlantic) Data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates drug overdose deaths in the United States increased by 28.5 percent during 2020-2021. The data stated that approximately 75-percent of drug overdoses involved opioids and illicitly used fentanyl during this time frame.
Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren reports numerous overdoses on fentanyl in southwest Iowa. This overdosing is causing people to stop breathing and sometimes die. Law enforcement and emergency responders have saved many overdosed people but have also found several deceased.
Sheriff McLaren says in many cases; the victims are taking pills believed to be Oxycontin or don’t even know what they’re taking. McLaren says the pills are dangerous because drug dealers make them without expertise. McLaren says one pill may give the drug user the high they are looking for, and the next pill may be their death sentence.
Sheriff McLaren urges anyone in the community who has information on dealing with this dangerous drug or using it to contact law enforcement.
Sheriff McLaren urges parents to talk to their children, even children old enough to be out of their house, about the choices they are making with illicit drugs. Drugs specifically that they think were manufactured and dispensed by a doctor or pharmacy. Do not take or buy pills from anyone except those prescribed to you by a doctor.
