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An Attorney General report shows a public shift from heroin to fentanyl as the dominant opioid in Pennsylvania.
The data is striking to support that assertion.
The report states that the AG's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation seized more than double the amount of fentanyl and heroin in 2021. Through March 2022, that number is now 40 times more, which equates to more fentanyl seized in all of 2021.
"Fentanyl has rapidly replaced heroin as the dominant opioid in Pennsylvania," AG Josh Shapiro said. "Last year, our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation seized more fentanyl than they had in the last four years combined.
"The rise in fentanyl has also contributed to a rise in overdose deaths," he added. "Last year, we lost 15 Pennsylvanians each and every day to a drug overdose. Law enforcement and policymakers alike must continue to do more to combat this crisis and devote additional resources to stopping fentanyl at the Southern border."
It's a trend that holds in Warren County, as well.
(T)he short answer is yes, we are seeing more Fentanyl in Warren County than in the past and predict this trend will continue," District Attorney Rob Greene said.
"Unfortunately, Warren County is not immune from this deadly narcotic," he added. "The WCDTF (Warren County Drug Task Force) is aggressively taking efforts to slow this scourge."
Information from the AG's office notes that overdose deaths rose in both 2020 and 2021 and that, per the CDC, synthetic opioids like fentanyl "increasingly found in counterfeit pills, were some of the primary drivers of the increase in overdose deaths in the last several years."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, two milligrams can be a lethal dose.
The AG's report calls for policymaker emphasis on treatment options as well as the costs and benefits of legalizing fentanyl test strips "and other methods of testing drugs to know what is actually in these complex compounds and reduce inadvertent overdose deaths."
"Fentanyl is deadly, and it is cheap to manufacture," Shapiro said. "Fentanyl is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, with doses selling for the price of a six-pack of beer. Just one fentanyl-laced counterfeit pill is enough to cause an overdose. My office is working every day to shut down drug traffickers and remove these poisons from our communities."