Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina
Stronger Together! Grassroots campaign against illicit fentanyl in NC IRS recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity EIN: 88-3921380
Fentvic Meetup #7 for Vance & Adjacent Counties NC (open to the public)
| Date | Sunday, November 5, from 2-4PM |
| Location | Pentecostal Holiness Church 621 US-158 Bypass Henderson NC 27536 |
Fentvic has recieved updated reports from the North Carolina Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Latest reports can be found here on the Fentvic website.
There were 266 fentanyl-positive deaths in July 2023 compared to 251 in July 2022. Year to date, there is a 6% increase (2,045) compared to this time last year, January to July 2022 (1,926).
Data Source: NC OCME Toxicology data; NC OCME Toxicology is nationally accredited by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology, Inc. NC OCME Toxicology provides forensic analytical testing of specimens for all 100 counties of the statewide medical examiner system. Toxicology results are based on blood, vitreous fluid, or other specimens used for testing at the discretion of the pathologist and/or toxicologist. For additional information regarding these reports, please contact ocme.data.request@dhhs.nc.gov
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, three students stand behind a card table covered in naloxone injection kits. When a curious student leans in and asks what the kits are for, Caroline Clodfelter, one of the co-founders of the student group running the table, explains: “It will reverse an opioid overdose. … So let’s say you’re going out to a frat — stick it in your pocket. It’s easy to just have on you.”
Nearly 600 miles away, at the State University of New York’s Delhi campus, Rebecca Harrington, who works in student affairs, has also been tabling to prevent fentanyl overdoses. Her table, though, is full of colorful cups, a water jug and candies in zip-close bags — tools for her demonstration on how to use a fentanyl test strip. These test strips allow students to see whether a pill has been laced with the deadly synthetic opioid.
Test strips and naloxone are becoming more and more common on college campuses, and at least one health department has recommended they be added to school packing lists. For students who didn’t bring their own, many campuses are handing them out at welcome fairs, orientation events or campus health centers.
As more teens overdose on fentanyl, schools face a drug crisis unlike any other
Fentanyl was involved in the vast majority of teen overdose deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly a quarter of those deaths involved counterfeit pills that weren’t prescribed by a doctor. And the problem has been following teens onto college campuses.
Students may think they’re taking pills like oxycodone, Xanax or Vicodin. Instead, those pills often have fentanyl in them, resulting in overdoses on campuses across the U.S., from Ohio to Colorado to Oregon. At UNC-Chapel Hill, three students died from fentanyl poisoning in just the last two years.
Continue reading “The latest college campus freebies? Naloxone and fentanyl test strips”A Carolina freshman was found unconscious in a Duke University dorm room in March and died two days later of a drug overdose. Neither university said anything publicly about her death until contacted by The Assembly.
by Charlotte Kramon and Michael Hewlett
Paramedics rushed into a residence hall on Duke University’s Kilgo quad at about 6:30 a.m. on March 9 and climbed to the third floor of the old stone building around the corner from Duke Chapel. In room 309, they found a pale, chilled body in a puffy jacket, on her back in a twin bed and glistening in a pool of sweat.
The young woman was barely breathing, according to the 911 call log and an investigative report. A trash can sat next to the bed.
After almost an hour of treatment for cardiac arrest, an ambulance took Elizabeth Grace Burton, a business student from Charlotte and member of Zeta Tau Alpha at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to the Duke University Hospital. Two days later, she was pronounced dead. Burton was 19.
A state autopsy says she died of cardiac arrest from a toxic mix of cocaine and alcohol. A private autopsy also found fentanyl and GHB, a depressant that can give feelings of euphoria.
Until contacted by The Assembly, Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill said nothing publicly about the death. Duke said it deferred to UNC because Burton was a student there, and UNC said it considers the family’s wishes when deciding to release a statement.
No one has been charged with Burton’s death. But Burton’s companion that night, former Duke student Patrick Rowland, has pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine and marijuana. Rowland, 22, is scheduled to appear in federal court on October 18 for a status hearing and will be sentenced in December.
Rowland could face a civil suit from Burton’s family. He is no longer at Duke. Duke officials won’t say whether he was expelled or left voluntarily.
Continue reading “A UNC Student’s Overdose Death at Duke”ROCKY POINT, N.C. (WECT) – The Pender County Sheriff’s Office released details on Thursday, Oct. 12, concerning the arrest of a New Hanover County man following an investigation into the death of 32-year-old Justin Barnes.
“On September 19, 2022, the Pender County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a death at an address in Rocky Point. Law Enforcement and EMS responded to the address and located 32-year-old Justin Barnes deceased. An autopsy was conducted which showed his death was the result of Fentanyl Toxicity,” the sheriff’s office release states.
According to the announcement, 30-year-old Grayson Kyle Lancaster was arrested on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
“The investigation showed Grayson Kyle Lancaster, a 30-year-old resident of New Hanover County, sold the fentanyl-laced narcotics to Mr. Barnes the day of his death,” the release explains. “Mr. Lancaster has been charged with felony Death by Distribution.”
As of Thursday morning, Lancaster’s bond is set at $1 million.
“Agencies to include New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, Carolina Beach Police Department along with the Wilmington Police Department assisted in this investigation. During these types of investigations, the sheriff’s office works closely with the District Attorney’s Office throughout the investigation.”
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Pender County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 259-1212 and speak with Det. Short or Det. Lane.
Read the full article and watch the video on the WECT News 6 website.
College senior Riley Sullivan often carries a vial of the drug naloxone in his backpack, in a pocket next to his pens and pencils.
He has done this for years, long before he was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Once, while volunteering at a homeless encampment in his home state of Michigan, he used it to save a man’s life.
“He was using drugs with somebody else, and they did not have naloxone,” Sullivan says. “This guy came out screaming, asking if anyone had some. And I did.”
Naloxone is the antidote to an opioid overdose. Sullivan took a syringe of injectable naloxone from the backpack he was carrying, walked into the tent and loaded it with a vial of medicine.
“I injected it through his pants, into the front of his thigh,” Sullivan recalled. Then he performed rescue breathing on the man. “And luckily he made it.”
Today, Sullivan has a $15,000 supply of injectable naloxone in his closet at his off-campus apartment in Chapel Hill. He and two of his classmates have become unexpected distributors of the drug in this college town where several students have recently died from opioids.
The deaths are largely unknown to the campus community, but they were discussed at a recent public meeting of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. The university’s director of student wellness Dean Blackburn led the presentation.
“I want to share a shocking statistic with you, that I hope you find shocking. It is for me. In the last 20 months, we have lost three active students and one young alum to fentanyl poisoning,” Blackburn said. “And I use that term specifically; not ‘overdose’ because our students and alum were not using fentanyl.”
“They were using other substances that were laced with fentanyl, and they did not know that. And the result of that poisoning was their death and our loss,” he added.
Read the full article and listen to the interview on the WUNC website.
The following OpEd is from the Oct 9 edition of the Carolina Journal.
While most of North Carolina’s political observers have been focused on the long-awaited completion of the state budget, there have also been other bills progressing through the legislature — like SB 189, Fentanyl Drug Offenses and Other Related Changes, which increases fines and penalties for distributing the drug and sets up a task force to come up with new law enforcement strategies.
The bill aims to crack down on fentanyl and other powerful synthetic opioids, a positive step in an environment where over 100,000 people per year are dying of drug overdoses, including over 4,000 North Carolinians. The explosion of these deaths, which used to total around 5,000 people annually nationwide before the new millennium, has made it now the leading cause of death for adults 18-45, higher than other major causes like car accidents or heart disease. Over 70% of overdose deaths are due to fentanyl, an opioid so powerful many immediately overdose and die when they try it for the first time.
State Sens. Tom McInnis, Danny Britt, and Michael Lazzara introduced the bill, which passed the Senate unanimously in March. This week, SB 189 also passed the House, albeit with 20 Democrats voting against. Now the bill heads to the governor for his signature or veto, and at least some on the left think he should choose the latter.
Before the House vote was taken, a coalition of “harm reduction” advocates, including the NC Council of Churches, sent out a press release denouncing the bill.
“Amid State’s Worsening Overdose Crisis, Harm Reduction Advocates Argue SB189 Will Fuel Deaths and Systemic Racism,” the statement begins.
To back the claim that arresting fentanyl dealers will increase overdose deaths, the harm reducers say, “Prosecuting dealers disrupts the drug supply, leading to more preventable overdose deaths.”
This, clearly, ignores the fact that fentanyl dealing is already highly illegal, so supplies are already disrupted when they are arrested. Increasing the fines and penalties on dealers isn’t going to make much difference on that front. But it might act as a deterrent and reduce supply.
The study they cite, from NC State, looked at Haywood County after the original death-by-distribution law was implemented. Either those sending the press release didn’t read it, or they hoped the reader wouldn’t. But the study found the impact of the law was actually a lowering of overdose risk (because dealers lowered potency to avoid the serious charge) in the short term. The study did say there was a possibility of a greater risk in the longer term, but they were unsure, so their biggest takeaway was, “Our study demonstrates most conclusively that further research on the individual and community-level impacts of DIH laws is urgently needed.”
Harm-reduction proponents are fond of calling all their claims “evidence based,” but I’ve found their evidence to be paper thin, like this claim that “prosecuting dealers lead[s] to more deaths” with the study saying mostly the opposite as proof.
After presenting their weak evidence, they go on to demand action based on it: “It is time for lawmakers to recognize the failings of the Drug War, and come to the realization that we cannot punish our way out of the overdose crisis.”
Raleigh, North Carolina- In a significant move aimed at combatting the alarming rise in drug-related fatalities, North Carolina’s General Assembly has passed Senate Bill 189, which has now been signed into law by NC Governor Roy Copper. The legislation, driven by a collaboration between lawmakers and law enforcement agencies, revises existing statutes pertaining to “Death by Distribution” of controlled substances. According to the Bladen County Sheriff’s Department, this crucial step in the fight against drug-related deaths has garnered strong support from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, highlighting its high-priority status.
The passage of Senate Bill 189 signifies a collective commitment to addressing the grave consequences of drug distribution, mainly when it results in loss of life. The bill introduces key changes to the existing legal framework.
Among the noteworthy provisions of Senate Bill 189 are:
1. Stricter Penalties: The bill strengthens penalties for individuals found guilty of distributing controlled substances that lead to a fatal overdose. These penalties are intended to serve as a deterrent against drug dealers who knowingly engage in activities that can result in death.
2. Enhanced Law Enforcement Powers: The legislation empowers law enforcement agencies to take more proactive measures in tracking down and prosecuting those responsible for distributing drugs that lead to fatalities. This includes expanded investigatory tools and resources.
3. Increased Accountability: Senate Bill 189 underscores the importance of holding drug dealers accountable for their actions by imposing harsher penalties. This accountability extends not only to those directly involved in distribution but also to individuals associated with the distribution network.
4. Education and Prevention: The bill recognizes the need for a multifaceted approach to address the opioid crisis. It allocates resources for education and prevention programs aimed at reducing the demand for controlled substances and promoting awareness of the dangers associated with their use.
The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association has been a vocal advocate for Senate Bill 189, emphasizing the critical role that law enforcement plays in safeguarding communities from the devastating impact of drug-related deaths. Their support underscores the urgency of addressing the ongoing opioid crisis, which has claimed countless lives across the state.
As the legislation goes into effect, North Carolina law enforcement agencies will have a more potent set of tools to combat controlled substance distribution, especially when it leads to fatalities. The hope is that these measures will not only serve as a deterrent but also contribute to saving lives and curbing the opioid epidemic.
Members of the public, local news media, and communities are encouraged to review the attached news release for a more comprehensive understanding of the changes brought about by Senate Bill 189.
Read the full article on the BladenOnline website.
Fentanyl isn’t only arriving in the U.S. by your standard-fare drug smuggler, hiding it in suitcases and the back seat of a go-fast boat from Mexico bound for San Diego. It’s still coming in via U.S. mail and other international shippers. And it comes in duty-free. Barring drug-sniffing dogs at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities catching the wayward package shipped usually from China and Mexico, duty-free entry remains a small but active way of getting the killer drug to addicts nationwide.
“CBP continues to see bad actors seeking to exploit the increasing volumes of de minimis shipments to transit illicit goods, including fentanyl and the precursors and paraphernalia used to manufacture it,” a spokesperson for CBP told me. De minimis is a Customs trade provision that allows for duty-free entry of all goods if priced under $800. CBP said that in fiscal year 2022 (beginning Oct 1 and ending Sept 30), most package seizures by Customs agents were from de minimis mail, including seizures for narcotics.
Although the CBP did not specify the source of these packages, Mexico and China are the top two, with China long known as the go-to spot for the raw materials and equipment used to make fentanyl in a lab.
Equipment such as pill presses, used by drug cartels for turning powder into consumable pills, were often seized at CBP mail rooms. Some 80% of those seizures came from duty-free entry, Brandon Lord, executive director of the trade policy and programs directorate, said on Sept. 11 at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference.
Read the full article on Forbes.com (subscription may be required).
Families Against Fentanyl issued a brief on September 26, 2023 which shows North Carolina as #4 in the nation for fentanyl deaths. Read the full brief on the Familes Against Fentanyl website.
