Mat-Su Opioid Task Force discusses detox and recent surge in counterfeit pills and fatal overdoes

WASILLA — Mat-Su Opioid Task Force founder and chair, Michael Carson recently provided an update on the Valley’s multifaceted community group dedicated to upstream prevention and support to the overall recovery community.

Task Force members along with various guest speakers focused much of the conversation on finding ways for locals to detox with dignity through hypothetical and long-awaited facilities and services that still haven’t been established.

“We are looking at circling the wagon and addressing the lack of detox. Unfortunately, the Task Force identified that as our number one priority, and there hasn’t been any gainful momentum,” Carson said. “There’s a lot of pieces that need to be put together, but we’ve decided to start that conversation again.”

Another major topic of the meeting centered around the continuous rise of counterfeit prescription pills during the most recent meeting.

“Everything is being tainted with Fentanyl, and counterfeit pills are running rampant. It’s really out of hand,” Carson said.

A large majority of these pills are laced with Fentanyl, a particularly lethal opioid, along with any host of mystery elements, according to Carson. He said the uptake in Fentanyl-related cases is a major cause for concern, especially in wake of the D.E.A’s recent public safety alert regarding the lethality of counterfeit pills.

In a recent press release, the DEA issued a public warning about an alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. This was the first time the DEA has issued a public safety alert in six years, looking to raise awareness of a significant nationwide surge in counterfeit pills that are mass-produced by criminal drug networks in labs, deceptively marketed as legitimate prescription pills, and are killing unsuspecting Americans at an unprecedented rate.

Over 9.5 million counterfeit pills were seized over the course of 2021, coming in higher than the last two years combined, according to the press release.

“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Anne Milgram, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before. In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. DEA is focusing resources on taking down the violent drug traffickers causing the greatest harm and posing the greatest threat to the safety and health of Americans. Today, we are alerting the public to this danger so that people have the information they need to protect themselves and their children.”

A dose as small as a pencil tip is all it takes to kill an unsuspecting person, according to Carson. He said this makes it an especially scary and difficult challenge for those struggling with addiction.

Carson said that criminals are using the guise of brand names such as Oxycontin, Percocet, hydrocodone Vicodin, Xanax, and Adderall.

Carson said that he’s drafting a letter for the Mat-Su Borough School District to implore the importance of talking about the rising danger of fake pills. Since these pills are widely accessible and often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms, this makes them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors.

“You have no idea how much Fentanyl or whatever else is in it. It’s like playing Russian Roulette,” Carson said.

Carson said there were more than 93,000 fatal overdoses last year with 9.5 million counterfeit pills seized last year. He added that the rate of fatal overdoses is now averaging two out of five pills taken outside a legal source.

Carson highlighted important dates coming up this month, including Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Oct.23, and Red Ribbon Week Oct. 23 through 31st.

The Mat-Su Opioid Task Force is currently holding virtual meetings to accommodate for social distancing. They still meet the first Tuesday of the month. For more information such as access to the next meeting, email sadams@kniktribe.org.

For more information about the DEA’s “One Pill Can Kill” public alert, visit dea.gov/onepill.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com