Heroin, fentanyl and blends still danger in North Country | Local News

PLATTSBURGH — Dangerous drugs arrive in the region “in a constant stream,” says Plattsburgh City Police Chief Levi Ritter.

There has been an uptick in recent arrests, he noted.

And the good news on top of that, the chief said, is overdoses don’t seem to be on the rise.

“Generally speaking, we have not seen any recent increase in overdoses or the use of Narcan by our officers,” he said.

That being said, there are still one or two accidental overdoses in Plattsburgh per month, Ritter said.

He added that a definite average is hard to approximate due to the inconsistency of overdose numbers. 

Narcan, or naloxone, is a medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

MOST PROBLEMATIC

The Adirondack Drug Task Force has made several arrests related to the sale of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl this spring, the chief noted.

One of those, in early April, saw a woman charged with possession and intent to sell after she was allegedly found with a heroin/fentanyl compound and more than 7 grams of cocaine.

“For the last several years, heroin and heroin laced with fentanyl, as well as fentanyl being found in other narcotics has been the most problematic from a public safety standpoint,” Ritter said.

“As of late, we still spend an enormous amount of investigative time and law enforcement resources in tracking heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is far more powerful than heroin.

GLENS FALLS DEATHS

There’s no telling when or where risk of overdose and death might be elevated due to the mixtures of substances made available on the street.

In the Glens Falls area, a spate of recent deaths that appeared to stem from drug overdoses had investigators trying to determine whether the cases were related.

Glens Falls Police investigated four apparent overdose deaths within six weeks, while State Police were looking into one in the Washington County town of Salem, and Hudson Falls Police also had two suspected overdoses, one of which was fatal.

Glens Falls Police Deputy Chief Joseph Boisclair said the Glens Falls deaths did not appear to be related, or the result of one bad batch of heroin or some other drug.

But he said the high number had investigators looking for a potential tie between them, including whether the recent arrival in the region of marijuana laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is far more powerful than heroin, could be playing a role.

SYNTHETIC DRUGS

Police agencies in the Capital Region warned about the presence of fentanyl-laced marijuana recently after dealing with overdoses and seizing the drugs during an arrest.

The concern was that marijuana users would not know about the potentially deadly addition to their weed.

Boisclair said local police are also seeing an increase in synthetic drugs that are originating in China, which are being used despite the fact that no one knows what compounds they contain.

“Basically, they don’t have any ideas what they are putting into their bodies,” he said.

SUBOXONE ABUSE

In Essex County, Sheriff Dave Reynolds said, the numbers of overdoses may be skewed because law enforcement doesn’t hear about them,  

“The Sheriff’s Office has a number of EMTs that respond to emergencies throughout the county, and all deputies carry Narcan,” he said, “but we are not seeing an increase of usage.

“I believe part of that is because many users and family members carry Narcan, so much of the usage doesn’t get reported.”

Malone Village Police investigated a few drug-related deaths last year, Police Chief Chris Premo said. 

“But nothing recent,” he said. “The trend around Malone is everyone is on Suboxone, and that is being abused quite a bit.”

Suboxone is a prescription medication used in treating opioid addiction, whether to illegal or prescription drugs. Along with buprenorphine, it contains naloxone.

Used to facilitate detox, withdrawal and in the early stages of recovery from opioid addiction, Suboxone can also be prescribed to help reduce the risk of relapse.

But illegal use is common, too.

“All of our patrols are trained in the use of naloxone,” Clinton County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Nicholas Leon said.

“When we first pushed it out, we were using it quite frequently,” he said.

But Clinton County is seeing a trend similar to that in Essex County.

With easier access to the public,” Leon said, “it appears that based on our reporting, the deputies are not having to use it or get called to those types of calls nearly at all now.”

Email Ben Watson:

bwatson@pressrepublican.com