Official: Control all fentanyl-related drugs

If something is not done by Congress to permanently make all fentanyl-related drugs a controlled substance to help stop the flow of illegally made versions, then “we may need to build more morgues,” says David DeVillers.

DeVillers recently took over as the Columbus-based U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio — one of America’s hardest-hit regions by the opioid epidemic.

In a release this week, DeVillers said he received an email from Franklin County Coroner Anahi Ortiz informing him that there were seven overdose deaths over the last weekend.

“Unfortunately, this is not the worst email I have received from Dr. Ortiz. In September, there were ten overdose deaths in one day,” DeVillers wrote.

In the first nine months of 2019, there were 421 overdose deaths in Franklin County, which is a 15% increase over the previous year. Fentanyl-related drugs were a factor in 83.6% of the deaths.

Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than pure heroin. The legally made pharmaceutical fentanyl, frequently used to treat severe pain, almost never makes it to the street, DeVillers said.

Much of the problem lies with what are known as fentanyl analogues, DeVillers said. Drug cartels using labs in China and Mexico are producing fentanyl analogues where a single molecule is modified, making it technically legal without a prescription because it’s not pure fentanyl but is just as powerful.

“This illicit fentanyl and its analogues are driving today’s illegal drug trade and they, along with other opioids, are by far the most deadly illicit drugs in American history,” DeVillers said.

The problem is illicit fentanyl is getting mixed with other drugs like heroin. DeVillers said there has been a recent trend where fentanyl is being mixed with cocaine.

“Like heroin, drug dealers make far more of a profit by cutting cocaine with fentanyl,” the prosecutor said. “When they cut it poorly, people die.”

Congress approved a law in 2018 that temporarily designated fentanyl analogues as a Schedule I controlled substance, the most dangerous class of drug and requiring a prescription. However, that law expires on Feb. 6.

The Senate recently voted to extend the law on analogues for 15 months. DeVillers said the House should act quickly to pass the extension and urged Congress to permanently make fentanyl analogues a Schedule I controlled substance.

“Or, and I’m sorry to put it so bluntly, we may need to build more morgues,” DeVillers said.