There is a scene from the 2003 movie The Core where hundreds of birds begin to fall to Earth, apparently dying mid-flight. It’s a quick scene, but I always remembered seeing it and thinking, “How can something go from able-to-fly to dead so quickly? It must be one extremely powerful force.” Even if the birds were sick and diseased, it seems insane that they would just die that fast.
Now, in 2017, when I think about that scene, I think about opioid overdoses in America.
Just like the birds that died mid-flight, hundreds of people are dying every day from opioid overdoses – just as quickly. However, although it’s the heroin and the prescription opioid pills that people are abusing, it’s the ‘aftermarket’ ingredients being laced into them lately that are the true killers, according to NBC. These are fentanyl and carfentanil, two of the most powerful opioids known to man.
America has been in an opioid epidemic for years now. Just like in a military war, the body count is rising. In Ohio, the US state with the worst opioid problem of all, the body count is so high that the Montgomery County Coroner, Dr. Kent Harshbarger, is literally running out of room for the bodies. If you weren’t already aware of how bad the opioid epidemic is, that little tidbit should hit home.
“If this pace continues, I’m not really sure what we’re going to do. We had thirteen yesterday and twelve of them were overdoses. It’s full every night. I’m looking at 2,900 autopsies – 2,000 of them overdoses. I can’t operate at that capacity.”
These are the words of Dr. Harshbarger, as quoted by the Tribune Review. His office became overcrowded last year as well, and many bodies were sent to funeral homes. Refrigerated trucks were also used. Both methods are being used again.
It’s the end of May, and Dr. Harshbarger has already exceeded last year’s autopsy total by 900. The number of total autopsies performed last year is the same as the number of this year’s overdose autopsies. That’s absolutely insane.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office faces two incredibly difficult factors when performing synthetic opioid deaths. One is the obvious danger of the drug still being present, and the other is the immense emotional toll these autopsies have on staff. Here are the factors broken down:
New American Serial Killers
First, let’s talk about fentanyl and carfentanil. The first, fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. It’s used as a human medicine only during surgery as an anesthetic, and in incredibly tiny doses. There’s good reason for such care. Just a few grains of pure fentanyl can kill an adult person. Drug dealers, especially members of cartels, are fully aware of how potent fentanyl is. Unfortunately, they care about money and not the wellbeing of their clients. That’s why for years fentanyl has been being disguised as both opioid prescription pills and heroin. As a matter of fact, in 2014, fentanyl killed over 5,000 American people. In 2015, the death toll doubled to 10,000+ American people. The numbers for 2016 are not fully out yet, but a safe assumption is at least 10,000 more. Imagine a drug one hundred times more powerful than fentanyl. It would be approximately five thousand times stronger than heroin! Now, imagine dealers were also putting this drug into pills and heroin. Well, it’s all true. Carfentanil is the deadliest synthetic opioid known to man – NEVER used for human consumption. Actually, it’s only used as a tranquilizer for large mammals, such as elephants. The veterinarians that administer carfentanil have to wear protective gear in order to avoid exposure. Just go to Google, type in “carfentanil death,” and scroll. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also very alarming. Fentanyl and carfentanil are turning opioid abusers all over the US into the birds from The Core – from moving to permanently still, and in just an instant.The Killers Live in Ohio
Although the synthetic opioid epidemic is nationwide, and even rampant in Canada, it’s Ohio that’s home to the worst of the worst. Last July, Ohio police seized a huge amount of heroin that was laced with carfentanil. Unfortunately, it was too late. Within two months, the city of Akron alone had over 140 carfentanil overdoses, Columbus had ten carfentanil overdoses in just nine hours, and another 200 citizens of Cincinnati overdosed this way. Fentanyl is actually the more prolific serial killer, but this is because of how much more widespread it is than carfentanil. Easier to synthetically produce, and presumably much cheaper, fentanyl is Ohio’s public enemy number one. The substance that ended the life of beloved musician Prince is currently ending well over one life per day in Ohio. In 2014, there were nearly 2,500 drug overdose deaths in the state. Over 500 of them were caused by fentanyl.Fentanyl (AKA the Devil)
According to the Ohio Department of Mental Health, linked above, “Fentanyl drug reports based on law enforcement drug seizures increased by 300 percent in the U.S. from the second half of 2013 to the first half of 2014,” which is remarkable. We’re talking a tripling of arrests in six months or less. Fentanyl isn’t new, either. It’s been on the pharmaceutical market since the 1960s. What’s new is the online black market and China sells drug dealers a lot of fentanyl using it. American and Mexican drug cartels and/or big-time drug dealers buy fentanyl (and carfentanil) from China in bulk, and then either lace it into drugs or use it to create new drugs. Dealers are saving money at the cost of thousands of lives. This has been going on for years, and the Chinese government has long turned a blind eye. However, as of March 1st, China has banned the production of both fentanyl and carfentanil. “Until now, China had been an exasperatingly indecipherable key piece of the puzzle in the fight against fentanyl trafficking and catching those aggravating the worst addiction crisis to hit the United States,” reported Fox News in February, anticipating the upcoming ban. There seems to have been at least a little reduction in the fentanyl death rate since March, says Science Magazine, but tell that to Dr. Kent Harshbarger, coroner of Montgomery County, Ohio. It would be quite a hard sell. It happened last year as well, but not quite to the degree that it’s happening now, today, as this is written, as you read it. Dr. Harshbarger’s morgue is out of room for bodies.An Overcrowded Morgue
