Marion police confirm heroin overdose death

• MARION

MARION – Lt. Chris Adkins of the Marion Police Department's MARMET Task Force confirmed Friday that there has been one death from the recent heroin overdoses.

Adkins said 11 overdoses have been reported in the last 48 hours and eight in the last 30. The fatality is reportedly a 19-year-old Marion woman.

Adkins said the department believes this stronger batch of heroin was laced with fentanyl, which is "highly deadly in very small doses."

A pen tip's worth of fentanyl can be fatal if it's not mixed right, Adkins said. It is used to provide drug abusers with a more potent high.

The overdoses happened around the city, and in some cases an overdose victim was moved to another location before emergency 911 was called.

PREVIOUSLY: Strong heroin batch leads to spike in Marion overdoses

Adkins believes the stronger batch is being sold by one group of multiple drug dealers and he said it's hard to pinpoint the source.

The Marion Fire Department is working with the Ohio Department of Health to get more Naloxone, a drug that can temporarily counteract an overdose. MPD Chief Bill Collins credited it with saving eight lives Thursday night.

The Marion Police Department posted on Facebook late Thursday afternoon that five overdoses had been reported within several hours and cautioned the community that there was an especially strong batch circulating in the city.

"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.

Spenser Hickey

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