MINNEAPOLIS— One pill can kill – that was the message federal and state partners emphasized as illegal fentanyl continues to circulate.
The DEA removed approximately 2.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl from the streets of Minnesota last year alone. Despite that eye-popping number, it’s not enough.
Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and is responsible for tearing families apart, including Michelle Loberg’s.
RELATED: WCCO investigates Minnesota’s fentanyl crisis
October 12, 2020 will always be a dark day for Loberg.
“I just really wanted to say goodnight and tell him I was proud of him,” Loberg said.
Instead, she walked in on her 20-year-old son Nicholas unconscious and suffering from fentanyl poisoning after purchasing heroin.
She lost a piece of herself that day, but she turns her pain into purpose and fights to save lives.
Nearly all 922 deaths from synthetic opioids in 2022 involved fentanyl, according to the Department of Health.
That’s why federal and state partners are working overtime to keep the pills off the streets.
The United States Attorney’s Office, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration, hosted a community conversation Wednesday afternoon focused on fentanyl awareness and prevention.
“It’s not going to get any better,” said United States Attorney General Andrew Luger. “It’s getting worse, pills are cheaper, the market is flooded. We need as much enforcement as we can reduce demand.”
And with those cheap counterfeit pills, people may not know what they are buying, laced with fentanyl.
Rafael Mattei, deputy special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said seven of the 10 pills seized contained two milligrams of fentanyl, which can be fatal.
RELATED: More Minnesotans, including children, are succumbing to fentanyl-related deaths
Mattei believes that enforcement combined with education can help get this crisis under control.
“We won’t be able to arrest ourselves out of this, we need the public, partners and teachers,” Mattei said.
Providing education about the dangers of just one pill while law enforcement partners continue to investigate and prosecute.
Getting help for an addiction is available 24/7 for free. Call 800-662-HELP to access the necessary resources.
