CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) — “We are certainly noticing un uptick in the availability of these pressed tablets,” stated Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey.

All those pressed drugs contain fentanyl – a fatal artificial drug that’s producing an maximize in overdoses in the county. Dorsey’s office environment claims In 2019, the county had 43 overdoses. In 2020, they saw around a 60 p.c improve with 69 overdoses.

“Our 2021 info ranges from January to July at this time. In that time period, we have had 53 overdoses. We are on speed for a 66% enhance from the 2020 whole,” according to an e-mail to FOX 46.

“Our maximum month this calendar year was back again in June in which I imagine we had about 15 and in comparison to other counties that’s not a major selection but for a compact rural county of about 30,000 people that is a substantial variety,” Sheriff Dorsey suggests.

Dorsey believes it really is up to law enforcement and the legal justice procedure to deal with the drug difficulty at the trafficker stage.

“Those people are the men and women who essentially are spreading poison on our streets, and they are using edge of people today and their addictions and so it is our task to do all we can halt the bulk trafficking of these substances, mainly because they are extremely deadly.”

He says it starts with the law. There are trafficking statutes in the South Carolina point out code for cocaine, meth, heroin and even marijuana… but not fentanyl.

“You could have an full truck load for fentanyl, theoretically and only be charged in South Carolina with possession with intent to distribute compared to meth – you could have a pound of meth and be billed for trafficking meth and confront 25 years required in prison,” he claimed.

He states the South Carolina’s drug legislation are excellent since it does trigger some folks to steer away from drug trafficking due to the fact they see the hazards.

“I never know if they consciously do a price reward analysis on ought to I get into prescription drugs and if I do this is what I’m likely to be dealing with but i do imagine that suitable now, they recognize there is certainly a higher need for fentanyl and even though there are risks, there are not as a lot of dangers as meth and cocaine or heroin trade,” he stated.

“Where are right now is we are hands are tied, we could go out there just like this new incident of seizing 100 products, that topic is on the lookout at small time in prison even although he is distributing particularly perilous prescription drugs.. when compared to anyone who receives caught with methamphetamine whose wanting at any place from 7-25 a long time in prisons,” he ongoing.

So, is a higher demand from customers of fentanyl triggering the raise in overdoses? Sheriff Dorsey suggests that has to be a aspect of the equation.

“Our ask for to our basic assembly, is definitely analyze this. Look at what form of impact that fentanyl is possessing on our communities and lets react properly with some harder legislation.”

South Carolina Condition Representative Tommy has a trafficking monthly bill amending the 1976 law expressing 4 or much more grams of any combination of timetable I or II medicines will be recognised as trafficking in unlawful medications.

Dorsey hopes that the basic assembly appears to be at what kind of affect that fentanyl is owning on our communities and responds correctly with some harder regulations.

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