New drugs in state prisons creating risk

State officials must make awareness, investigation and eradication of these new drugs a priority.

Each new call on the emergency radio scanner ratcheted up the sense of foreboding and alarm.

Ambulance after ambulance was called out to the State Correctional Institution at Albion to aid staff members who were falling mysteriously ill. By day’s end, seven people — six prison staffers and one inmate — were taken to hospitals for treatment. Those taken to UPMC Hamot were scrubbed head to toe in a manner that recalls the anthrax or nuclear exposure incidents of days past.

The terrifying events at Albion were part of a rash of such incidents at eight prisons statewide over the past month. In all, 29 staffers have been sickened, prompting a system-wide lockdown Wednesday.

Exactly what caused the illnesses at Albion is not clear. But officials have said new synthetic drugs are breaching prison walls in various forms, including pieces of paper soaked in liquid drugs.

James Barnacle, the director of investigations and intelligence for the prison system, told Pennlive.com that it only takes a small piece of such paper to induce a high.

The danger is not only posed by the drugs themselves, but also by the breakdown of order that could occur if too many corrections officers fall ill at one time.

State Corrections Secretary John Wetzel was correct to restrict prisoners’ movement, mail and visitation until steps can be taken to assure security and safety for workers and inmates alike.

The episodes present another deplorable face of the state’s opioid addiction crisis.

It is believed that synthetic fentanyl, an opioid, might have played a role. In at least three of the incidents statewide, naloxone was administered to staffers to reverse the symptoms of opioid overdose.

If inmates are trafficking in drugs like liquid fentanyl, it is only a matter of time before this menace starts showing up in other places, including schools and workplaces.

In addition to beefing up prison security, state officials must make awareness, investigation and eradication of these new drugs an enforcement priority.