The war on drugs is ongoing and Fentanyl is affecting all demographics. The devastation caused by Fentanyl addiction was clear in an incident at Ashley Regional Medical Center this summer. According to the Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, officers responded to a report at the hospital of a pregnant woman in early labor found to be concealing Fentanyl pills within her person during an examination. A plastic baggie containing three blue pills was found inside the woman. When questioned, the woman admitted the pills were Fentanyl and that she had a problem with its use. The woman was transferred to a Salt Lake City hospital and criminal charges as well as rehab options were part of the follow up. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration has a ‘Facts About Fentanyl’ page that states that “Illicit Fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market. Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids. Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of Fentanyl.” Visit www.dea.gov to learn more.
