Taking Counterfeit Prescription Drugs Can Be Fatal, Portland Police Say

PORTLAND, OR — The Portland Police Bureau on Monday sent out a warning to the greater Portland community regarding counterfeit prescription drugs — such as Xanax, Oxycodone and Alprazolam — that are being sold on the black market in the metro region, across the state and online.

Because of the actual ingredients in the counterfeit prescription drugs, the likelihood of fatal overdose is higher, according to the Oregon State Crime Lab. Some tested counterfeit Oxycodone pills were found to contain heroin, Furanyl Fentanyl, Tramadol and other substances, police said.

Portland police provided photos of several examples that showed the difference between real and counterfeit drugs:

Portland police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley noted the deaths of 80 Oregon residents since 2014 resulted from taking synthetic opioids.

"Officials want to warn the public that fentanyl and other opioid analogs are extremely potent and have caused accidental overdose deaths in Portland and around the state," Burley said in a statement. "Fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine, but it croses the blood-brain barrier faster than more commonly encountered opioids and can be 100 to 10,000 times more potent than morphine or heroin."

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