A bad batch of heroin that caused five overdoses in four hours is currently circulating in a Maine community, and police are urging users and their families to be vigilant.
Five individuals overdosed on heroin in Presque Isle, Maryland between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern time due to what police believe is a bad batch of heroin, likely cut with a much more powerful substance such as fentanyl. Police Chief Matt Irwin posted a dire warning on the department’s Facebook page at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday imploring addicts in the region to reach out for help, particularly due to the influx of such a powerful heroin batch, reports WLBZ.
None of the five overdoses proved fatal and it is unclear whether any of the individuals had to be revived with the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan.
“We are reaching out to everyone tonight who may have a loved one who is addicted to heroin in the Aroostook County area or maybe YOU are the one struggling with the addiction, to say we (the Presque Isle PD) have had 5 overdoses today since about 2 p.m.,” Irwin stated on the PIPD’s Facebook page. “It appears there may be a bad batch circulating in our area. Please call for help at the earliest possible moment.”
States in the region are experiencing similar problems with random batches of heroin that lead to mass overdoses in a single day or over a week. Authorities believe many of these incidents are due to dealers street testing a new cut of heroin. Authorities linked 35 deaths over five days in Philadelphia in early December to heroin overdoses in a wave of fatalities city officials said they had “never seen” before.
Health experts also note that the presence of fentanyl or other incredibly powerful ingredients can actually entice addicts with a heavy tolerance to use the product.
“When people are addicted and they are seeking that high and they hear about a drug that is leading to overdoses … they try to acquire that drug for the ultimate high,” Jeanine Buchanich, from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, told Philly.com. “So warning the public is a double-edged sword.”
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