At yesterday's BCAB meeting, I spoke of fentanyl laced candy being discovered. I'm happy to report that so far we have recovered no candy here in Anne Arundel County. However, this candy is being reported across the country and surely will end up here at some point. Particularly concerning is the upcoming Halloween season. Parents have to be very vigilant. Drug organizations are also targeting our young people with colored fentanyl pills commonly known as "rainbow pills." The brightly colored pills are specifically being produced to catch the attention of young people and is a disgusting attempt to market this drug. The Drug Enforcement Administration reported that recently officials seized 15,000 pills disguised as candy in Connecticut.
As of last week, Anne Arundel County has seen 85 drug overdose fatalities. The good news is deaths were significantly down from last year. The bad news is at least 57 of those deaths are directly attributed to fentanyl. Additionally 24 deaths are still being forensically examined and I'm sure the number of fentanyl deaths will rise.
The fentanyl epidemic is real. Fentanyl is being produced in China and exported to Mexico where it is being produced into pills and other forms intended for distribution. As an example, the DEA announced that "Operation One Pill Can Kill," law enforcement authorities seized 10.2 million fentanyl pills between May and September of this year. Millions of other fentanyl seizures have also occurred. An example of a recent Phoenix, AZ seizure of over one million pills is pictured below. This drug is being smuggled across the Mexican border at an alarming rate.
Hopefully we can work together to alert our parents to this problem and better protect our young people.
I've attached several pictures of seized fentanyl-laced candy and rainbow fentanyl pills.
As of last week, Anne Arundel County has seen 85 drug overdose fatalities. The good news is deaths were significantly down from last year. The bad news is at least 57 of those deaths are directly attributed to fentanyl. Additionally 24 deaths are still being forensically examined and I'm sure the number of fentanyl deaths will rise.
The fentanyl epidemic is real. Fentanyl is being produced in China and exported to Mexico where it is being produced into pills and other forms intended for distribution. As an example, the DEA announced that "Operation One Pill Can Kill," law enforcement authorities seized 10.2 million fentanyl pills between May and September of this year. Millions of other fentanyl seizures have also occurred. An example of a recent Phoenix, AZ seizure of over one million pills is pictured below. This drug is being smuggled across the Mexican border at an alarming rate.
Hopefully we can work together to alert our parents to this problem and better protect our young people.
I've attached several pictures of seized fentanyl-laced candy and rainbow fentanyl pills.
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