2007 Events --> Jan. 11, 2007
Drug czar tells Wayne County thanks for recent drug campaign

Detroit - Wayne County has been credited with heading off a major health risk by a federal office that coordinates drug policy and intervention programs.

John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said county health authorities and the county executive's office acted quickly to notify the public of a threat to users of a powerful painkiller. The drug fentanyl was last year linked to dozens of overdose deaths. The county's medical examiner, Dr. Carl Schmidt, and County Executive Robert Ficano formed committees to address the spike in deaths and quickly identified police and health groups to warn potential users. Fentanyl laced heroin and cocaine reportedly caused a jump in drug deaths last spring and summer. Wayne County's Department of Health and Human Services reported nearly 550 drug deaths in Wayne County through last December, a 20 percent increase largely due to fentanyl abuse.

Dr. Walters was sworn in as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on Dec. 7, 2001. He said the spike in fentanyl deaths could have been far worse, had county officials not acted so quickly to notify news agencies and public groups.

Known nationally as the federal drug czar, Dr. Walters recognized Wayne County at a Jan. 11 ceremony at the Medical Examiner's Office. He noted that only a few granules of fentanyl can cause a drug user to suddenly die. He said federal efforts to cut off the source of the drug and other measures could help save lives. When prescribed, the drug is used to treat cancer patients. It is reportedly far stronger than traditional drugs like morphine.

Illicit manufacturers are likely not in Michigan and tougher to track, the drug czar said. Drug users are stricken when too much fentanyl is added to a heroin and cocaine mix. A part of the brain that tells the lungs to work is numbed and the user dies quickly after injecting the drug, authorities said.

The "numbers show fentanyl is a killer," the county executive said.

According to the drug czar's office, the distribution and abuse of cocaine (particularly crack) and, to a lesser extent, heroin and methamphetamine pose the most significant drug threats to most Midwest metropolitan areas, while the distribution and abuse of methamphetamine pose the greatest drug threat in rural areas and smaller cities. Marijuana is the most widely available and frequently abused illicit drug in the region but generally poses a lower threat, since its distribution and abuse rarely are associated with violent crime, as is the case with cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The threats posed by other dangerous drugs and the diversion and abuse of pharmaceuticals vary but usually are lower than the threats posed by other major drugs.

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