Strong heroin batch leads to spike in Marion overdoses

MARION – Posting on its Facebook page that at 5 p.m. it had responded to five overdoses within the "last couple of hours," the Marion Police Department warned the public that some especially dangerous heroin appears to be to blame.

"While heroin is obviously bad to begin with, it seems that a particularly bad batch is circulating in the city," the police department's post states.

Police Chief Bill Collins shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday said the department posted the information to Facebook to spread the word to heroin users and friends and acquaintances of heroin users in an attempt to save lives.

"It's not really a bad batch, it's just a stronger batch than they're used to, and when they cut it and it's used in the same amount, that's what gets them in trouble," Collins said.

He said the city fire department's emergency medical service personnel used naloxone to save the five people who suffered overdoses between about 3 and 5:45 p.m., then took them to Marion General Hospital. He said he didn't have further updates on their conditions after they were transported.

Fire department personnel "said they were running dangerously low (on naloxone) because of so many vials they've used in the last 24 hours." He said he couldn't estimate the number of overdoses that had occurred in the previous 24 hours, adding the five within a roughly two-hour time period was unusual, "especially to have them that close together within a two- to three-hour time frame to have them back to back to back like that."

Collins said he had the information posted to the Facebook page to spread the word quickly.

"Heroin addicts run in groups with heroin addicts," he said. "Even on these overdoses, we told them to get the information out to your friends, to let them know whatever they have right now is more than they're used to and could get them in trouble. We don't want anybody to die, so we get the word out as we can when we have an incident like this."

Naloxone, also known by commercial names Narcan and Evzio, is used to counteract heroin and prescription pill overdoses.

jjarvis@marionstar.com

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Twitter: @jmwjarvis