From the Hood River Police Department Facebook Page.
After our recent posts about Fentanyl, some people were wondering and commenting about the potency of these pills laced with Fentanyl. Yes, Fentanyl is a pain medication and when it is used under the care of a medical provider in a controlled manner, it can be beneficial to the patient so they can manage their pain.
These pills, however, are laced with Fentanyl in an uncontrolled manner. What you might get in one batch could be totally different than another batch. The toxicity in each pill can also vary. One subject that was recently found with one of these pills advised the Officer, one of the reasons they are very addictive, is because no one pill is alike. The subject stated because no pill is the same, you’re constantly trying to replicate the same high. Therefore, the Fentanyl that was in one pill now might take two pills to get a stronger high and that’s when overdoses occur. If you do a little research, you will find out that overdoses from this synthetic opioid is on the rise.
When Fentanyl started to gain popularity, the risks were very unknown. Many agencies stopped doing roadside testing of most drugs because of the unknown dangers this presented to their Officers. Our Officers were issued 2 doses of NARCAN to administer in case they were exposed to this type of drug.
The HRPD did not have a safe and secure way to test Fentanyl and other dangerous drugs. The Police Department purchased an air filtration system designed to make it possible for our Officers to test, count and sort out various narcotics safely. Safety is our goal, and we strive to make sure our Officers go back home to their families.
Pictured below is our new system being used by one of our Officers.
Thank You,
HRPD
