Fentanyl-Laced Marijuana could make its way to the area.

UTICA, N.Y. – Oneida County continues to see numerous drug overdoses throughout the area. Law enforcement, adding a new concern out of Sullivan County.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s office arrested someone for possession of marijuana. After they tested the marijuana, they found that it was laced with the narcotic, Fentanyl. Law enforcement believes that the laced drug could make its way to Oneida County.

“We relayed a lot of our heroin-related overdoses to the potential of being laced with Fentanyl. Now that we see marijuana being laced with Fentanyl basically we are setting off all of our alarms,” said Sheriff Rob Maciol.

Fentanyl is not only dangerous to those that use it, but it also has the potential to be very dangerous to law enforcement.

“Fentanyl seeps through the skin simply by touch. So the dangers are not only to those that are using it but to law enforcement and EMS who are investigating an overdose. So that is some of the dangers that we see. Now we are seeing it laced in marijuana. The simple fact is that these drug dealers are trying to get you hooked on their drugs, and any time they can get someone a better high they are going to do it,” said Trooper Jack Keller.

Fentanyl can be fatal if used in too high of a dose.

The latest drug discovery has the Oneida County Sheriff re-iterating his stance on the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana.

“This goes right back to the fact that legalizing marijuana is a bad, bad, bad idea. Because folks are going to purchase it through the black market. The black market explodes in states where marijuana has been legalized and we know for a fact and we can now confirm that marijuana is being laced with fentanyl in some places and it has entered the state of New York,” said Maciol.

ACR Health on Genesee Street gives out Fentanyl test kits. If you are interested in getting one, all you have to do is walk in the door.