A press release from the Odessa Police Department is warning parents of opioid abuse by teenagers.
OPD has reportedly responded to four overdoses where one teen was found dead by an overdose of Oxycodone. The pills that were recovered are fraudulent and have potentially other dangerous narcotics mixed with them.
A photo of what the recent batch of Oxycodone or M30 looks like can be seen at tinyurl.com/tuf849hc.
“We are still in the early stages of our recent investigation, so I won’t speak on all of it, but we do know nationwide there is a problem,” OPD Capt. John Sikes said over the phone. “The DEA has put out several studies regarding fraudulent pills in different countries and some here that shipped in and sold.
“If it’s not regulated by the FDA or somebody like that, anything can go into those things.”
OPD is asking parents to talk with their children about drugs, the dangers and not to hesitate to contact the Odessa Police Department to report suspicious activity.
Police are also asking parents to contact them immediately if they have recently found similar pills to the recent batch of Oxycodone or M30.
“We understand there’s hesitancy about getting police involved when it comes to finding narcotics like this, but we want to know about it because we want to find the people who are putting it out there,” Sikes said.
Other information is also available at dea.gov about the rise in counterfeit drugs.
Counterfeit pills are fake medications that have different ingredients than the actual medication, the website details.
They may contain no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient, or have the right ingredient but in an incorrect quantity. Counterfeit pills may contain lethal amounts of fentanyl or methamphetamine and are extremely dangerous because they often appear identical to legitimate prescription pills, and the user is likely unaware of how lethal they can be.
