‘One Pill Can Kill’ campaign launched to combat drug abuse in Michigan

(WNDU) - Officials in southwest Michigan have taken aim at fentanyl.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten announced the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign.

Totten said that from May to September, law enforcement said they have seized over 60 kilograms of fentanyl. The DEA said around 60 percent of last year’s drug deaths could be attributed to fentanyl.

Totten reminded people that it doesn’t take a lot of fentanyl to be lethal.

“Fentanyl in pill form is a deliberate attempt by drug cartels to make illicit drug use more appealing to Americans,” said DEA Detroit Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene. “Fake pills are especially concerning because the appeal they can have to an unsuspecting person. One may believe they are taking a legitimate pharmacy-grade pill pilfered from perhaps someone’s medicine cabinet or stolen from a pharmacy. Far too often that isn’t the case; many of the pills people buy on the street were haphazardly made in a clandestine lab – containing lethal dosages of fentanyl.”

Agents claim the amount of fentanyl they found in their latest phase is equivalent to 36 million potential deadly doses.

Copyright 2022 WNDU. All rights reserved.