‘Rapid evolution’ of drug threat
Officials, advocates gather to discuss spike in OD deaths
HARTFORD – A sudden surge in drug overdose deaths in Hartford — including three more this past weekend — and the possibility of fentanyl-laced crack cocaine is raising serious concern for community leaders searching for safe, effective ways to combat the crisis.
“We are seeing a rapid evolution of this threat,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said Monday at a gathering of law enforcement, first responders, elected officials and grassroots organizers.
After seven people died earlier in the week — five in a 15-hour span — three more deaths were reported Saturday, bringing the total number of overdose deaths in the city to 45 since the start of the year and closing in on last year’s annual total of 51. This time last year, there had been just 22 overdose deaths.
The three fatal overdoses Saturday were a 45-year-old man in Blue Hills and a 59-yearold man in Frog Hollow who died of suspected heroin over
doses, and a 61-year-old woman in Asylum Hill who died of a suspected crack overdose, according to Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
In addition to suspected heroin overdoses, some deaths are believed to have been caused by crack cocaine laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, police said. Additional testing is needed to confirm these suspicions.
“I will say flat-out we don’t have great answers yet,” Bronin said.
Bronin was one of about 20 people at a roundtable called by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and held at Asylum Hill Congregational Church.
Mark Jenkins, executive director of the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition, said fentanyl-laced crack cocaine is reaching an “opioid-naive” population.
These drug users are not expecting to deal with fentanyl, and they don’t have tools, such as the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, they need to handle reactions to the drug, he said.
Everything done about this situation so far has been reactionary instead of preventative, Jenkins said. He said grassroots organizations should be taken more seriously because they are the ones who can more directly reach the communities that need help.
But even those organizations are limited in what they can do, especially with the new threat of fentanyl in crack cocaine.
“I pray it was a fluke because we don’t have the resources,” Jenkins said after the meeting.
Paramedic Peter Canning said he used to believe drug users had inherent character flaws, but over the last 25 years in the job he has learned that assumption was largely untrue. From their stories, he realized they were normal people.
Overdoses can occur in public spaces such as alleyways and bathrooms, and drug users might die because they’re all alone.
For Canning, the mission is no longer to stop people from using drugs — he said he knows they will no matter what. Instead, he hopes they will have the resources they need to be safe.
That could mean having access to naloxone, Canning said, or even using drugs in the presence of first responders or others who can monitor users’ reactions.
“The people who use drugs are members of our community, and they need to be welcomed back home rather than disbursed,” he said.