Overdose Victim Tests Positive For Carfentanil: Harford Sheriff

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — State health officials warned Marylanders about carfentanil, an elephant tranquilizer that has been found in the bodies of heroin users. Now, the drug has reached Harford County.

"Last night, we learned that the victim of one of our 34 fatal heroin overdoses tested positive for carfentanil," the Harford County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Thursday evening.

Carfentanil, which is hundreds of times more powerful than heroin, is responsible for a handful of confirmed overdose deaths in the state. State health officials issued a warning about the drug in April after autopsies showed it was present in overdose victims in Anne Arundel and Frederick counties.

"We knew it was just a matter of time," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told WBAL, before carfentanil made it to his jurisdiction. He said that the agency would be increasing the amount of Narcan — an antidote for heroin overdoses — that deputies carry from 1 mg to 4 mg in response to the increased potency of the drug. However, Gahler said there would come a point where the synthetic opioid was "going to be too strong to overcome."

Carfentanil is 10,000 times deadlier than morphine and 100 times deadlier than fentanyl, which is 50 times deadlier than heroin, health officials report.

Officials say heroin users may be unknowingly buying fentanyl, carfentanil or heroin laced with the synthetic opioids.

“The risk in using these drugs cannot be overstated,” Public Health Services Deputy Secretary Howard Haft said.

All autopsies for overdose victims in Harford County as of March showed fentanyl was involved, Gahler said previously.

This year heroin fatalities in Harford County have spiked, as the synthetic opioid has increased in presence. As of May 18, authorities said that 34 people were believed to have died from overdoses related to heroin; in 2016, there were 56 deadly overdoses believed to be heroin-related in Harford County.

Marylanders who struggle with substance use disorders can find location-based treatment resources at MdDestinationRecovery.org or via the 24/7 Maryland Crisis Hotline: 1-800-422-0009.

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