The director of the Drug Enforcement Administration came to Cleveland Monday to talk about the opioid and fentanyl epidemic.
Chuck Rosenberg says fentanyl is man-made and cheaper than heroin. The head of the DEA says it's also more potent and deadly. That is why his agents are being trained to administer Naloxone, the drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose, just in case they come in contact with fentanyl during an investigation.
Rosenberg says cracking down on the distribution of fentanyl is almost impossible because its being sold over the internet.
“A lot of it is coming from China. Stopping stuff on the internet is difficult. So stopping it, the supply side of the equation has always been difficult. That is why we are also talking about the demand side. We've got to convince people this is poison and it is going to kill them.”
Cuyahoga County is on course to see more than 500 overdose deaths this year, more than double that in 2015. The U-S Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio says so far this year her office has charged 16 people who've sold drugs that have caused a user to overdose.