Fentanyl causes police to change the way they handle drugs in the field – WIS News 10

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – Police officers have to change the way they handle drug tests at traffic stops due to Fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is so dangerous that just a little bit of wind blowing a granular on the skin, not on the mouth or in the eyes, but on the skin to a person who has no tolerance of it or a roadside police officer. It could start a reaction,” said Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson.
Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid, is currently the main driver of drug overdose deaths according to the CDC.
One can be affected by Fentanyl through ingestion, inhalation or skin contact, which is why police officers won’t handle drugs out in the field anymore.
“We quit with the field tests,” said Richardson. “Just take the stuff in they gear up and do a field test indoors.”
Pharmaceutical Fentanyl has been prescribed for years by doctors to treat severe pain such as advanced-stage cancer; however, recent Fentanyl overdoses are linked to illegally manufactured Fentanyl.
Fentanyl is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs a lot more addictive and a lot more dangerous.
Police and government officials are currently working to get Fentanyl off the street.
A bill in South Carolina could allow for people who deal Fentanyl that causes a deadly overdose to be charged with homicide. It has passed the Senate and is waiting in a house committee.
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