DEA Warns Of 'Mass Overdose Events' From Fentanyl In Washington

SEATTLE — A rash of deadly "mass overdose events" across the country has the Drug Enforcement Administration warning Washington and other states to prepare for the worst.

Drug Enforcement Administration head Anne Milgram said in the letter to local, state and federal law enforcement officials that in recent months, 29 people have died in 58 “mass-overdose events” in seven U.S. cities.

A mass-overdose event is one in which three or more people take a lethal dose in proximity of time and place. In recent months, such events have been reported in Wilton Manors, Florida; Austin, Texas; Cortez, Colorado; Commerce City, Colorado; Omaha, Nebraska; St. Louis, Missouri; and Washington, D.C.

None have been reported in Washington thus far, but the state has seen a "stunning" rise in fentanyl use over the past year, which has local health leaders scrambling to address the issue.

Natural and synthetic opioids are a scourge everywhere, though illegally manufactured fentanyl makes them more dangerous, “killing Americans at an unprecedented rate,” Milgram said in a news release. Fentanyl is often cut with other illegal drugs to help them go further on the street, leading to accidental overdoses, but more Washingtonians than ever are also knowingly consuming fentanyl: a recent UW Medicine survey found that 42 percent of respondents who used syringe-service program sites across the state had knowingly used fentanyl in the last three months.

"I've been doing drug-trends research for 20 years, and fentanyl's growth is the biggest, fastest shift we've ever seen—and also the most lethal," said Caleb Banta-Green, principal research scientist for UW Medicine's Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute.

In fact, the DEA said, fentanyl killed more Americans than guns and traffic crashes combined. Just last spring, UW Medicine published a similar report after seeing fentanyl overdose deaths more than double between 2019 and 2020. In the fall, Pierce County reported its own spike in opioid poisonings, which left 55 people dead between January and June of 2021. CDC data also shows that Washington's overdose deaths have grown at nearly double the national rate: increasing 34.5 percent from October 2020 to October 2021, and leaving 2,202 more Washingtonains dead.

Two-thirds of the 105,750 Americans who died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in October 2021 were using synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, according to provisional data published last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is about 100 times more potent than opioids and has a legitimate purpose, but drug cartels also mix it up in clandestine labs and smuggle it into the United States through Mexico for the black market, according to the DEA. On the streets, cocaine is laced with fentanyl to make it more powerful or stretch the base product, or it’s pressed into pills as passed off as legitimate prescription pills such as Percocet, Vicodin or OxyContin.

Because there is no official oversight or quality control, the counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl.

“Drug traffickers are driving addiction, and increasing their profits, by mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs,” Milgram said. “Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl, until it's too late."

Related: UW Study Shows Fentanyl's Outsized Impact On All Washingtonians

The DEA said it is ready to step in and assist law enforcement officials in Washington to trace mass-overdose events back to local drug dealers and the international cartels behind the surging domestic supply of fentanyl.

So far this year, the DEA has seized almost 2,000 pounds of fentanyl and 1 million fake pills. Last year, the agency seized more than 15,000 pounds of fentanyl, four times as much as was confiscated in 2017.

That’s enough to kill every American, the agency said.

If you are concerned about fentanyl, here are a few safety tips from the Washington State Department of Health and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department:

• Carry naloxone if you or a loved one are using opioids. Naloxone, commonly sold as Narcan, is an effective opioid poisoning reversal medication. Narcan can be purchased at any pharmacy without a prescription, and is often offered for free at community-based organizations. The DOH recommends carrying at least two doses.
• Test suspicious pills for fentanyl. The Tacoma Needle Exchange offers free fentanyl testing strips.
• Know the signs of overdose. They include blue, or ashy white lips, blue fingernails, struggling to breathe or no breathing, and being unresponsive to external stimuli.
• Consider addiction treatment. The Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department says medication for opioid use disorder like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are often covered by insurance and offered by community-based settings, and can help long-term recovery.