LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The fentanyl crisis has shifted into overdrive lately with the open southern border. According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021 with 66% of
those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
The Hill reports the fentanyl deaths are almost entirely connected to the scourge of the drugs being smuggled
across our southern border.
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Fox News reports that morgues are running out of space due to opioid deaths and most of them are related to fentanyl. Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar in Illinois says, “The most common non-natural death is opioids. It’s more common than our number of homicides, more than our number of traffic accidents.”
Fentanyl, a drug used to help patients manage severe pain, is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. With August 31st being International Overdose Awareness Day, today is a good time to take a look at what’s being done to get a handle on the overdose deaths that are coming from a fentanyl crisis that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
In an effort to save as many lives as possible, cities, schools and community groups all over the country and in Michigan are making sure they are supplied with Narcan (naloxone), an opioid overdose-reversal medication.
In July of this year, Michigan’s House Bill 5166 passed and was signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. It allows access to naloxone and other similar drugs by allowing non-profits and other social service providers to distribute the medications to their communities. Many are taking advantage of this.
In the Upper Peninsula, the Marquette County Cares Coalition and Great Lakes Recovery Centers are hosting a Drive Through, Save Lives event today. They will be handing out free Narcan and fentanyl testing strips.
The city of Dearborn will be stocking vending machines with Narcan including one at the Dearborn Train Station.
According to Fox News, Wayne State University is installing 16 vending machines across the state, including on its campus in Detroit. The Narcan doesn’t require payment of any kind and it can be accessed anonymously by anyone in need. The college applied for a grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to buy and install 20 more vending machines by October. 19,000 doses of Narcan have been distributed by the machines so far.
Matt Costello, the program manager for the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice at WSU said, “We should be carpet-bombing our cities with naloxone. That’s how dire the crisis is.”
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In addition, homeless shelters in Michigan are offering Narcan distribution. The Battle Creek Homeless Shelter has a vending machine that provides 24/7 access. The machine has 100 boxes of Narcan and they will be replenished by the Substance Abuse Council that was made possible by a grant. The boxes have two does of the meds, gloves, a rescue mask, instructions for use and resource information.
Even before organizations started distributing Narcan, local police and EMS, such as in Dearborn, started carrying Narcan with them. In July, a Michigan State Police trooper in Roseville was able to save a 18-month-old child by administering Narcan after the child ingested heroin allegedly belonging to the child’s mother. In the beginning of July, Roseville police said that over the course of a 36-hour period, four people had overdosed on fentanyl and were saved by police officers with Narcan.
