“People need to understand that if they are getting what they are told are prescription medications from somebody other than a doctor or a pharmacist; they are playing Russian Roulette.”
This warning was given by Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics director John Dowdy following a press conference where he announced that a 24-year old Madison man had been found dead having overdosed on fentanyl.
Dowdy said that it is believed that the man thought he was buying 30 mg oxycontin pills which turned out to be counterfeit. Dowdy said that fentanyl is 1000x more powerful than morphine, and it only takes just 1 milligram of the substance to cause an overdose.
The opioid epidemic has not only plagued Mississippi, but the nation as a whole. Just a few weeks ago, President Trump declared the crisis to be a public health emergency. Dowdy said that the MBN will seek the help of the state legislature in an effort to reduce the volume of the drugs in Mississippi by increasing penalties for those convicted of selling heroin and fentanyl.
