A deadly problem

The number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Madison County from January 2019 through October 2022, according to information provided by the Madison County Health Department:

2019: 14

2020: 42

2021: 23

2022: 40*

* through November
ANDERSON — An 8-month-old Anderson infant’s death in September added to a growing litany of local deaths involving fentanyl, according to authorities.

From the start of 2019 through October 2022, fentanyl has been blamed in almost exactly half — 119 of 237 — of local overdose local deaths, the Madison County Health Department reports.

And the problem has spiked again.

Through November of this year, 40 fentanyl-related deaths have been reported in the county, up from 23 a year ago and threatening to eclipse the record total of 42 fentanyl-related deaths suffered in 2020.

In October alone fentanyl, in combination with methamphetamine and other opioids, caused the deaths of seven people in the county.

The 8-month-old victim is the youngest person whose death has been attributed to fentanyl in recent years. The infant’s father, Rodney A. Taylor, 29, 2000 block of McKinley Street, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death.

According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to the address on Sept. 2. Anderson Fire Department medics were performing CPR on the infant, who died later that day at Ascension St. Vincent Anderson.

At the hospital, Taylor said, it was discovered that the infant had in his mouth a wrapper from the inside of a cigarette pack along with a gray salt-like material, thought by officials to be fentanyl. A toxicology report showed the presence of fentanyl in the infant’s body.

Fentanyl has claimed the lives of local people in a wide range of ages over the past few years. The oldest was a 74-year-old woman who died March 1, 2019.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl “is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.”

The National Capital Poison Center describes it as “a common contaminant in illicit drugs,” explaining that it “acts on the brain to cause life-threatening respiratory depression.

“People who purchase and use street drugs, as well as people who sell the drugs, may be completely unaware that a particular powder or pill contains fentanyl instead of another drug,” the national poison center website notes.

‘AN EMERGING TREND’

A fact sheet from the National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that fentanyl is often “sold illegally as a powder, dropped onto blotter paper, put in eye droppers and nasal sprays, or made into pills that look like other prescription opioids.”

The fact sheet also notes that “some drug dealers are mixing fentanyl with other drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine. ... This is because it takes very little to produce a high with fentanyl, making it a cheaper option.”

In August, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned the public about “an alarming, emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available across the United States,” noting that the DEA and other law enforcement agencies had seized “rainbow fentanyl” pills in 26 states.

“This trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people,” the warning said.

Fentanyl accounted for 53,480 preventable deaths in the United States in 2020, a 59% increase over the 2019 total, according to the National Safety Council.

Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger says that fentanyl has become more prevalent locally in the past five years.

“The increase in the presence of fentanyl is a concern,” he said. “There is the high potential for death. Many people purchasing illegal drugs are not aware fentanyl is one of the ingredients.”

He said some drug dealers obtain fentanyl through theft of the pharmaceutical form of the drug, but most of it is coming to Madison County from overseas.

“It’s being imported with the sole intent of adding it to illegal drugs,” Mellinger explained.

LEGISLATION ON HORIZON

The sheriff notes that Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it a criminal offense to lace drugs with fentanyl. Mellinger said in the case of a death, another law could mandate a murder charge against a drug dealer or supplier.

In the early 2000s, the local police Drug Task Force (DTF) investigated a case involving the theft of pain patches containing pharmaceutical fentanyl, according to Anderson Police Chief Mike Lee. Roughly two decades later, the fatal drug flared again in the city.

“In 2019, DTF began to receive reports of counterfeit pharmaceuticals contained fentanyl being trafficked locally,” Lee recalled.

He said the Drug Task Force, working with the DEA and U.S. Postal Service, discovered that a man named Christopher Harris was obtaining counterfeit fentanyl tablets from Arizona and distributing them locally. Harris was arrested on federal charges, but committed suicide before he could be prosecuted.

“Around the same time, DTF began to experience fentanyl powder being mixed with heroin,” Lee said. “Traffickers are motivated toward using fentanyl in place of heroin or mixing it in because it’s a cheaper drug to purchase.”

This year, the Drug Task Force has seized more than two pounds of powder fentanyl. According to the DEA, just two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill. There are 453,592 milligrams in a pound.

“The current street price for the tablets has declined to around $3 to $5 each when purchased in bulk,” Lee noted. “Most overdose death cases investigated in the last few years have produced toxicology results in which the victim had absorbed fentanyl.”

As of Dec. 5, the Anderson Police Department has responded this year to 87 overdose cases, down from 104 in 2021.
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