KANSAS CITY, Kansas — The number of suspected overdoses in Kansas City, Kansas, have more than doubled since last year, police said, warning of the potentially fatal effects of fentanyl.
In 2019, the city saw 23 overdoses, according to the police department.
So far this year, there have been 41 suspected overdoses and nine deaths, Capt. Richard Harris said in a department news release Monday.
"In the last 30 days alone we have had 16 overdoses and 2 deaths — both of those have been minors, under the age of seventeen," Harris said in the release. "We are urging the public, especially parents, and anyone who has contact with young people, to pass this warning along."
The department's narcotics division is pointing to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, as the "driving force behind a recent sharp increase in suspected overdose cases," Nancy Chartrand, a spokeswoman with the department, said in the release.
The department is warning people not to purchase fentanyl, or any opioid, including OxyContin, Vicodin and morphine.
"There is a very real danger that they may have been cut or laced with fentanyl to increase their potency," Harris said. "KCK is not unique; the increase in fentanyl overdoses and deaths is being seen across the United States. We have amateur pharmacists out on the street who clearly don't know what they are doing, because they are creating lethal doses in a single pill."
The department emphasized that fentanyl reaction in someone's body can be unpredictable, and that users won't know by looking at the pill if it will cause an overdose.
Harris said that if someone ingests tainted pills, any hesitation to seek medical help can be fatal.
Anyone with information related to the illegal use or distribution of narcotics or likely overdoses is asked to call the department's 24-hour narcotics hotline at 913-573-6287 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
