Fentanyl Overdoses Up 20% Since 2022

CHARLOTTE – Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat that our nation has ever encountered, the DEA says.

“One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people,” said U.S. Attorney Dena J. King. A lethal dose of fentanyl is just two milligrams. That’s small enough to fit on a pencil tip. So far this year, CMPD’s vice unit has seized approximately 30 kilograms of suspected fentanyl. They say that is enough to kill 15 million people.

“This poison does not discriminate,” says Major Luke Sell with the Special Investigations Bureau. “We are seeing overdoses in million dollar homes, were seeing them in back allies of our city and county.”

In the first half of 2023, CMPD responded to approximately one thousand overdose calls. Atrium Health officials say many patients say they had no intention of taking fentanyl.

“We’re seeing fentanyl contamination in cocaine and marijuana,” says Dr. Christina Murphy. “Were seeing fentanyl made into pills that look like pharmacy grade drugs and marketed as those drugs, which puts our community at risk.”

Medic and CMPD are doing something new to try to help. They’ll start using an overdose detection app. It’ll allow different agencies to share information, with the goal of making faster response times.