EASLEY – Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC) will be handing out a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses.

BHSPC staff will hand out Naloxone, also known as Narcan, from 6pm – 8pm Thursday, June 15 in the Branham Conference Room, located on the first floor of Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital.

The synthetic opioid fentanyl continues to wreak havoc on communities across the country.

In 2021, more than 71,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The drug, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, is mixed in and disguised as other drugs such as Xanax, Percocet, oxy and Adderall.

The Drug Enforcement Administration warns that 6 out of every 10 fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl contains a potentially lethal dose, and an estimated 250-500 million pills made with fentanyl are in circulation in the United States at any time.

Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose.

Many of those who use substances have no idea that fentanyl is in the substances they use – and that lack of knowledge can be fatal.

From 2017-2021, fentanyl-related overdoses increased 520 percent in Pickens County, according to data from Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC).

From January 1 to June 1 of this year, there have been 113 overdoses in Pickens County, according to the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program’s Overdose Mapping and Application Program.

Of those, 42 percent took place in the 29640 and 29642 area codes.

Naloxone was used in almost all of those cases.

“All the drugs in our community are potentially altered with fentanyl,” BHSPC Executive Director Angie Farmer said. “You have to be aware of what you’re putting into your body. It could absolutely kill you.

“You might know that fentanyl could be in heroin or some other opioid but what we’re seeing is, it’s in every bit of the meth coming through. It’s even in some of the local marijuana. It’s added into some of these pressed pills. It could look like Xanax. It could look like Ativan. It could look like a number of medications.”

Those picking up the Narcan at the June 15 event will be trained on how to administer it to overdose victims.

Administering Narcan to someone overdosing on opioids is just the first step. The Narcan could wear off before the opioid does, so getting the overdose victim help from EMS is essential.

Narcan begins working two to three minutes after it’s administered. Multiple doses are sometimes required to revive a person.

BHSPC staff will also be handing out prescription drug disposal pouches to the community during the event. The pouches allow for unwanted, unneeded and expired prescription pills, liquids and patches to disposed of safely, keeping them out of the wrong hands and the local water supply.