KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Officals say a rash of heroin deaths in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties may be due to drug dealers cutting their illicit substances with the prescription drug Fentanyl.
That drug is more potent, making the combined drug more dangerous and more-attractive to addicts.
“That could be considered to be a good match for somebody looking for a very potent high,” Mindie Smith with Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health said.
She also said the drug can kill you if you don’t know what is in it. Her agency has mobilized to address all opioid addictions.
“There’s help available and there are treatments out there,” Smith said. She says Kalamazoo had 31 fatal overdoses in 2014, which is even more last year.
Most weren’t caused by illegal heroin, but by abuse of prescription drugs.
– John McNeill
