Sheriff's Office addresses fentanyl problem, solutions

In response to the growing fentanyl crisis in and around Central Texas, the Hays County Sheriff ’s Office has conducted a number of Fentanyl Awareness Programs, educational information sessions aimed at parents, students and community members.

These programs took place across the county throughout September and are continuing into October, hosted by schools, local law enforcement and community organizations. One such session took place at the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 28, led by Hays County Deputy Sheriff Bruce Harlan. Harlan is also the Sheriff ’s Office’s community liaison for Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Wimberley.

“What I wanted to talk to you about is something that’s been in the news; it’s nothing you haven’t heard before,” Harlan began. “But I wanted to give you kind of a thumbnail sketch.”

“In fiscal year 2021, there were a little over 100,000 synthetic opioid deaths,” he continued. “Synthetic opioids have been around since the 60s, and they served a really viable purpose in pain relief. This can be anything from tramadol to hydrocodone, oxycodone — all of those are synthetic opioids. Fentanyl is towards the top end of that scale as far as potency.”

Harlan explained that due to its highly addictive nature, fentanyl can be taken and cut into other substances. The resulting substance can look like a regular, prescription opioid, but the process is not only often undisclosed to the customer but also performed in an unsafe and unsanitary manner.

“These guys (drug producers) are basically just mixing it up in a blender and putting it in a pill press that has the right markings to make it look like something it’s not,” he said. “Recently, they’ve gone so far as to add some food coloring, and [the resulting pills] literally look like Sweet Tarts. It looks like candy.”

With such a potent drug becoming more and more common and more and more difficult to identify, the Hays County community has suffered, Harlan said.

“We’ve had 16 deaths this calendar year in Hays County alone,” he said. “Four of those were high school students. We’ve had at least two additional overdoses at the school that Narcan saved. I can easily say that we have an overdose event in Hays County on a weekly basis, if not more.”

Such numbers also tend to be undercounted, according to Harlan.

“It’s probably a good 20% undercounted when it comes to these overdoses,” he added.

While Narcan — the brand name for the prescription medicine naloxone — can be used to treat a known or suspected opioid overdose emergency, many say it is not the solution to the drug problem itself. While lifesaving, it may be more of a bandaid on the much larger wound.

“Narcan is not the answer whatsoever,” said Walt Smith, Hays County Commissioner for Precinct 4. “We have reports of kids literally taking something, carrying Narcan in their pocket and handing it to their friend, saying, ‘Okay, if I pass out, give this to me.’” “While Narcan is a tool in the toolbox, what we are seeing is kids focusing on the fact that it exists, and it’s not deterring them at all,” Harlan echoed.

Smith also warned against assuming this crisis is limited to certain areas or social groups.

“There is no socioeconomic barrier to this drug,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are lowincome, high-income… As a matter of fact, we’re seeing some statistics that the higher-income of an area you are in, the more prevalent this drug is.”

Harlan explained that this phenomenon is largely due to the accessibility of more expensive drugs in higher-income households.

“A lot of these kids come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds because they started by ripping off pills from Mom and Dad — pills that you are not typically going to find in a lower socioeconomic environment,” Harlan said. “And then kids get the fake stuff because they’re getting it off the street.”

Both touted the importance of fentanyl education throughout the community, in schools, and especially in individual households.

“This starts in the home,” Harlan said. “There’s only so much that a governmental entity, especially law enforcement, can do. And the alarming part is the age of these victims we’re seeing.”

“The more we can get parents aware and involved,” he continued,” the better off we’re going to be.”

Federal support and assistance in the prosecution of fentanyl dealers has also been helpful in getting to the root of the problem, Harlan said.

“We have had some good prosecutions as well, and we’ve had the feds take over a couple of cases,” he said. “But a lot of these folks, if they’re still alive, they still won’t give up their sources. That’s not unusual for substance abuse cases.”

The Hays County Sheriff ’s Office is part of a federal task force working on addressing the fentanyl crisis. “At least we’ve got help and the weight of the federal government working with us,” Harlan said. “They are taking smaller quantities (of drug possession) for federal cases than they typically look for.”

On a state level, Senate Bill 768, passed just recently by the Texas state legislature, set the punishment for the manufacture or delivery of four to 200 grams of fentanyl to a minimum of 10 years in prison or a maximum life sentence. This imposes severe consequences for manufacturing or distributing fentanyl and makes it more difficult for dealers to get back out on the streets and continue distributing.

For the latest on fentanyl education and the Fentanyl Awareness Programs, visit hayscountytx. com/law-enforcement/ sheriff or follow the Hays County Sheriff ’s Office on Facebook.