(WWJ) The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police are issuing a warning about the dangers of “fake prescription pills.”
Sheriff Troy Goodnough, Director Chad Toldstedt of the Monroe City Public Safety Department, and First Lieutenant Stephen Borello of the Michigan State Police are issuing the alert in conjunction with information from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The DEA is informing Americans of “the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing Fentanyl and methamphetamine.”
This alert comes as the DEA launches the "One Pill Can Kill" awareness campaign on social media, targeting teens/young adults and their parents, to raise awareness about the often deadly consequences of taking a a counterfeit drug.
“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered…” DEA administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. “From large metropolitan areas to rural America, no one is safe from this poison.”
The DEA describes a counterfeit pill as “fake medications” that are “extremely dangerous because they often appear identical to legitimate prescription pills.” (You can see a side-by-side comparison below. On the left, is an authentic version of the drug Oxycodone. On the right, a counterfeit version).
The pills are usually made in “substandard conditions” and mislabeled, but worst of all, may contain a deadly substance like Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that's 50-100 times stronger than morphine.
Milgram said drug traffickers and dealers are hiding the substances inside the counterfeit drugs to make them more addictive and to increase sales.
The DEA reports they have seized over 20.4 million fake pills nationwide in 2021. The majority of those pills are made in countries such as India, China and Mexico-- although, there's a burgeoning of counterfeit pills being made in the United States.
According to a DEA investigation, of the pills that contained Fentanyl, 4 out of 10 of them contained a lethal dose.
The lethal dose of Fentanyl is about two milligrams, equivalent to just a few grains of salt and can be lurking in a single pill; according to the DEA.
“Tragically, many overdosing victims have no idea they are ingesting the deadly Fentanyl until it’s too late,” Milgram said.
According to the DEA’s presentation, “Prescription for Disaster” a national CDC survey conducted in 2015 revealed 16.8% of high school students admitted to taking a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription.
The DEA said high school and college students may take prescription drugs without the authorization of their doctor when they feel pressure to improve their academic, athletic, or social performance.
Teens and young adults most often purchase these counterfeit drugs over the internet or e-commerce websites. They may even complete the transaction in emoji code.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said, since the pandemic and the advancement of technology, telemedicine and online pharmacies are becoming more mainstream. However, the FDA adds only 4% of pharmacies operating online are legal.
The FDA said you can determine if an online pharmacy is safe if: they require a doctor’s prescription, they’re licensed by your state board of pharmacy or equivalent state agency, have a U.S. licensed pharmacist available to answer your questions, are located in the United States and have a valid street address.
Red flags suggesting the pharmacy is not safe to use include: offering low prices that are “too good to be true", allowing you to buy drugs without a valid prescription, sending spam emails trying to sell cheap medicine, are located outside the U.S. or ship worldwide.
Data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) confirms the importance of the State Police and Monroe County Sheriff’s warning: in 2020, nearly 1,200 Michiganders have died from synthetic narcotic overdoses (including Fentanyl).
According to the MDHHS, overdose deaths in Michigan have increased 10-fold since 2000.
The DEA said in their "One Pill Can Kill" campaign" the best way to stay safe is to only take medication that you were prescribed by a doctor, and only purchase the medicine from a licensed pharmacy-- and to talk to your children and loved ones about the importance of doing the same.