Fentanyl intercepted, local network aims to prevent drug overdoses in the area

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) - Several kilos of fentanyl were intercepted before they reached their destination in Hamilton County on Friday.

Having fewer drugs on the street is a good thing, but it comes with a deadly symptom. The numbers show that there is usually an increase in drug overdoses.

There are a couple reasons for this: people switch to a different dealer or a different drug and quite frankly do not know what they are getting.

In Hamilton County, there is a network ready to battle this deadly symptom like the Hamilton County Heroine Task Force, Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition, and the Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program Agency to name a few. The alert was sent out Friday to put feet on the ground.

The Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program Agency had posters in every room of its building to let their employees know they need to be prepared when checking in on hot spot areas.

"Ready means to get out in the street, boots on the ground, in all of the areas that we know are called ‘the hot spots,’” said CEO of UMADOPA, Leah Dennis Ellsworth.

This is just one of dozens of organizations that will work to prevent overdoses in the coming weeks.

“The concern is that people who are struggling with addiction are buying from their regular dealers may be out so they may have to go to an alternate supplier and they don’t know what they are getting,” said commander of the Hamilton County Heroine Task Force, Tom Fallon.

The Operation Bridge Program created by the Ohio Department of Public Safety was created with the notion that communication is key. And law enforcement alone cannot stop people from dying. Instead, they send out an alert to all their community partners to combat the overdoses that statistics show may occur in the coming days and weeks.

“We want to make sure individuals have Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and they are calling 911 if they do overdose,” said Meagan Gosney with the social program administration for the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition.

People like Ellsworth are the ones heeding the call because to her, there is nothing more serious than making sure people live another day to get the help they may need.

“We have to ramp up even our services to do the work now to make sure we can prevent some of it from occurring,” said Ellsworth.

Hamilton County averages about 450 overdoses a year. They did see a 14% decrease from 2020 to 2021.