BOULDER, Colorado – Boulder County health officials are warning of another batch of bad drugs that is hitting the streets of Colorado.
In a press release released on Saturday, the health department said street drugs, mixed with fentanyl, are circulating in the community and are causing an increase in overdoses.
“Last night, we received a call from the mother of a young man who overdosed, and he had just gone out with young people, people who were partying with Xanax,” said Trina Faatz of the Boulder County Substance Use Advisory Group. .
Faatz said it is an ongoing problem.
“It’s not just Boulder County,” she said. “It’s Denver, Jefferson County, Weld County, it’s everywhere.”
Statistics show a large increase in visits to the emergency room of the Boulder County hospital related to opioid overdoses during the pandemic.
From 2017 to 2019, there was an average of 14 visits per year, only in the age group of 25 to 29 years. Last year, there were 34 visits to the hospital. That is an increase of 143%.
“I had a friend who suffered a seizure (related to drugs),” said Hailey McCabe.
The UC student said she reacted quickly, based on the training she received as a lifeguard.
“I protected your head and called 911,” she said.
Signs of overdose include:
- Does not respond to sound or pain, such as rubbing the sternum
- No breathing
- Blue lips or fingers
- Loud, gurgling sounds
Faatz said people who use drugs should test them.
“Start with a very small amount,” she said, “and never use recreational drugs alone.
Faatz added that anyone using recreational drugs should have close to someone who has Narcan nasal spray to treat an overdose in an emergency.
Denver7 spoke briefly with several school and college-age teenagers in the mountainous Boulder region.
A 17-year-old said he carried Narcan with him.
“My mom recently gave it to me just for security,” he said, “because she heard about what’s going on in Boulder.”
Faatz said that fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than opioids and that fentanyl drugs can kill you.
It happened to a UC student in 2017.
Madeline Globe bought a pill on the street, went to sleep and never woke up again.
Good Samaritan Law
Faatz said that another really important thing for people to realize, especially young people, is that if you call 911 to report an overdose of alcohol or emergency drugs, even to a police officer, to the 911 system or to a medical provider , this protects you from criminal prosecution.
“It is much better for a young person not to have to live with the guilt of leaving a friend behind, but to call 911 and can always bring up the fact that he understands the law that protects him, which is the law of the Good Samaritan , ” she said.