Detectives are continuing to see fentanyl deaths rise in Jefferson County.
Sergeant Steve Tilly has been with the force for 28 years. He told KMOX that he saw his first overdose death in 2011. Before that, he said, fentanyl and other hard drugs were not even on the radar in Jefferson County.
“In the 2000s-ish — 5, 6 — we started getting the opioid craze from the oxycodone and oxycontin and things like that, and it’s progressed,” Tilly said.
St. Louis County and City led the state last year in overall overdose deaths, according to the state health department. Jefferson County is fifth on the list. Sergeant Tilly said as fentanyl overdose deaths go up, so do meth deaths.
On Tuesday’s Total Information AM, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak touched on the issue of fentanyl overdoses in the area. He said the drugs often get to the county from the city.
“It's killing our community, just like it is in St. Louis County and St. Charles County. Something has to be done,” he said. “We have to target those that are distributing the drugs, because there are consequences.”
Opioid overdoses accounted for 56,000 deaths in 2020, many of which are attributed to fentanyl. The synthetic opioid is often pressed into pills or used to cut heroin, so people often don’t know they’re taking it.
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