Fentanyl, drug overdoses on the rise in Skagit County

As the fight against COVID-19 continues, some in Skagit County are increasingly worried about another public health crisis – one they fear may be nearly too late to stop.

“We’re on the precipice,” said Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Tobin Meyer, who heads the department’s drug task force, which is comprised of detectives from throughout the county.

Drug overdose deaths are on the rise in the county, as is use of the highly potent drug fentanyl – a synthetic opioid the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, Meyer said.

“Fentanyl is one of those things that once it takes hold in the community you can never go back,” he said.

It’s a drug that has caused havoc throughout the country.

According to the CDC, 67,367 died from drug overdoses in 2018 – nearly 70% from opioids. Of that number, more than 31,000 died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the CDC reported.

It’s a trend that has those such as Meyer worried. If large numbers of fentanyl deaths can happen in places such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, they can happen here.

“I’m seeing that we’re not immune to that,” Meyer said. “It is here, and it is real.”

Russian roulette

Fentanyl first appeared in Skagit County in 2017. That year, there was one fentanyl-related drug overdose, county Coroner Hayley Thompson said.

In 2018, there were nine fetanyl-related deaths of a total 24 overdose deaths, she said.

“These are people of all various types,” Thompson said. “(But) they’ve all had a mom and dad and a family.”

In 2019, both the total number of drug overdose deaths and fentanyl-related deaths dropped, she said.

That reprieve, however, was short-lived.

Between January and Aug. 7 of this year, Thompson’s office has investigated 26 deaths that are either confirmed or presumed to be from drug overdoses, she said. Five have been confirmed to be fentanyl-related and two others are presumed to be fentanyl-related, she said.

“This isn’t something that just showed up and now it’s gone,” Thompson said. “It’s still very much real. We’re definitely seeing a couple of overdoses a month.”

Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in the increase is not known, she said. It is possible that more deaths have occurred because people have not been able to use such drugs while in the company of others, meaning there may be no one around to administer the potentially-lifesaving drug naloxone.

Meyer said he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2020 reaches 12.

“It very well could be, someday, many, many more,” he said. “I won’t doubt that fentanyl will probably become the No. 1 (cause of) drug death in Skagit County.”

Fentanyl is found largely in counterfeit Percocet pills – often without the user’s knowledge. Because counterfeit Percocet pills are mixed by a number of sources and in a variety of places, there’s no telling how much fentanyl is contained in each pill.

A dosage of fentanyl the size of two grains of salt can be fatal, the Sheriff’s Office has previously said.

“Very small quantities of that stuff can go a long way,” Meyer said. “It’s absolutely a game of Russian roulette.”

In 2018, one counterfeit Percocet pill would sell on the street for about $30, Meyer said. Now, because of an increase in supply, pills sell for about $10.

“That should be alarming,” Meyer said. “That indicates we have crossed this precipice.”

Fentanyl is now also being found in drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin, he said.

In addition, carfentanil – a synthetic opioid estimated to be 100 times stronger than fentanyl and 10,000 times stronger than morphine – has been found for the first time in Washington, Meyer said.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, carfentanil is used legally as a tranquilizer for large mammals such as elephants.

“There’s no doubt: If it’s in the state of Washington, it’s here (in Skagit County),” Meyer said.

Full steam ahead

When fentanyl was first found in the county, the task force’s plan to combat it was to buy as much of it as possible from low-level dealers before it could make its way to unsuspecting victims.

With the amount of fentanyl out there now, that’s no longer the most effective way to get it off the streets, Meyer said.

Instead, the task force is focusing on the mid- and high-level suppliers, ones Meyer said are professional, organized and moving what he calls “near cartel levels” of drugs into the county.

“If you plan to do that in Skagit County, we’re going to be aggressive,” Meyer said. “We will continue to pursue this to the ends of the Earth to keep this out of Skagit County.”

Since 2018, the drug task force has nearly tripled in size. The Sheriff’s Office hopes to increase the team’s manpower in 2021, Meyer said.

Because drug dealers cross jurisdictional boundaries and the Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have a drug task force, the task force is expanding its work into that county in an effort to stop the drugs before they get to Skagit County.

“We’re running at full-steam ahead,” he said. “If we save even one life, it’s worth what we’re doing.”

Because of how dangerous fentanyl can be – it can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled – the Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office have each obtained TruNarc handheld drug analyzers to let them know which drugs they are dealing with.

It’s not just the task force that is taking the increase of drugs, especially fentanyl, seriously.

Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Rich Weyrich said his office is acting aggressively when it comes to those charged with distributing drugs, particularly fentanyl.

“We don’t want it, and we want to hold accountable the people that are bringing fentanyl into the community and distributing it in the community,” he said.

During 2018 and 2019, four people pleaded guilty to controlled substance homicide for selling the fentanyl-laced drugs that killed four people in Skagit County.

Another is awaiting trial after he allegedly sold the fentanyl-laced pills that killed an Anacortes man last year.

While state law determines the sentences for those who plead guilty or are convicted, Weyrich said he would like to see those laws revised to allow for longer sentences for those convicted of distributing drugs, particularly fentanyl.

“We’ve got people that are bringing basically loaded guns and handing them out to everyone who wants one in Skagit County,” Weyrich said. “It’s a dangerous, dangerous thing.”

Help needed

Meyer said the problem with drugs in the county is one law enforcement and prosecutors cannot handle on their own.

“It’s going to take a community to help solve this problem,” he said. “Ask for help if you need it.”

After community concern about opioids was raised in 2015, Skagit County Public Health has taken steps to prevent their use, Community Health Education Specialist McKinzie Gales said.

“We’ve seen people from all walks of life experience overdose,” Gales said. “Opioid use, and drug use in general, doesn’t discriminate. Anybody can become addicted.”

The county has formed an opioid work group, is providing needle clean-up kits and naloxone, and is helping connect people with treatment providers.

The county will be launching an opioid resource website, called Skagit Rising, within three weeks, Gales said.

And the Sheriff’s Office is asking people to not only look out for each other, but also to provide information to the task force.

People can submit tips anonymously through the Sheriff’s Office’s website.