Prosecutor: Handling fentanyl too risky

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien doesn’t want some of the evidence that his office uses to prosecute drug cases.

He’s afraid of what it could do to his employees.

“This stuff can kill you in small amounts, “O’Brien said.

O’Brien is concerned that his employees might accidentally touch or inhale fentanyl or some of its opioid relatives. As few as two saltsize granules of powdered fentanyl can be deadly.

O’Brien is so bothered by fentanyl’s danger that he’s told the Columbus Division

of Police not to bring the drug to his office.

“We don’t want this evidence,” O’Brien said. “I don’t want our people to even ask for the (fentanyl) evidence.”

Fentanyl is a manmade drug similar to —but 50 times more potent — than heroin, a natural drug derived from the poppy plant. Because fentanyl can be absorbed by the skin or inhaled, workers wear gloves and masks when handling it. Fentanyl is cheaper than heroin, so many dealers and suppliers mix it with heroin, often not telling users who are unaware they are ingesting a drug more potent than they expect.

The Columbus police crime lab considers fentanyl so dangerous that it sent out a warning in a March 29 email to O’Brien. The email noted that Columbus police are seeing an increase in crimes involving fentanyl and related drugs, and warned how toxic the drugs are to handle. Because of the danger, it said, the crime lab is putting warning labels, in bright colors, on all fentanyl evidence. O’Brien went further. First, he ordered that no fentanyl or related opioid be brought to the prosecutor’s office without his signature. Fearful of accidental exposure to fentanyl, O’Brien also had a dozen of his employees trained to administer naloxone, a drug that offsets the effects of opioids and can literally bring someone back to life from an opioid overdose. Naloxone’s brand name is Narcan.

The receptionist at O’Brien’s office is trained to administer naloxone in case a visitor — a witness, a defendant — overdoses.

City of Columbus prosecutors shouldn’t encounter fentanyl evidence because the city handles misdemeanors and O’Brien’s office handles felonies. Lara Baker-Morrish, chief prosecutor for the city, said her office likely wouldn’t need the drug for evidence because for a fentanyl case to be a misdemeanor it would have to be a minuscule amount and even then, that crime is usually accompanied by a felony, sending the case to O’Brien’s office.

Felony prosecutors across Ohio share O’Brien’s concerns.

“I certainly wouldn’t want my people handling it, either,” said