Arkansas drug officials send warning as fentanyl overdoses spike nationally
By Jade Jackson (KTHV)
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning after seeing a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass overdoses. Officials characterize it as three or more overdoses happening at the same location over a small span of time.
The crisis is having an impact all around the country as Florida, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Washington D.C. were highlighted as having the most overdoses in recent months.
With this mind, the state is now exercising caution. The state is on alert after seeing the warning and are keeping an eye on what neighboring states could indicate about Arkansas.
"A lot of times Arkansas are behind the trends, and what we're seeing in other states will slowly leak into Arkansas so I think we're fearful of what we're seeing in those other states," said Kirk Lane, Arkansas State Drug Director.
Kirk said that overdoses in Arkansas have steadily increased over the last two years with fentanyl being the leading cause, which is notorious for being one of the deadliest drug trends.
