Jan 29, 2014 3 min read

As of press time, there had been 22 heroin overdoses in Western Pennsylvania in a span of less than one week’s time, due to a deadly batch of the drug labeled as “Theraflu,” “Bud Ice” and “Income Tax.” The Office of the Medical Examiner in Allegheny County issued a statement that the presence of fentanyl, a powerful narcotic commonly used for pain control by legitimate medical practitioners, often in the form of a patch, was found in preliminary samples of paraphernalia at the seen of death or overdose.

So serious is this batch that Allegheny County Medical Examiner Karl Williams has called this rash of heroin-related deaths a “public health crisis.”

The batch has also made its way to Armstrong, Butler, Westmoreland, Lawrence, Beaver and Washington counties, though as of press time, Washington County Coroner Timothy Warco had not investigated any deaths as a result.

As scary and ridiculous as it sounds, there are actually users who will seek out the dangerous batch in chase of that ultimate high.

So, it’s a good time to remind parents to not turn a blind eye to what their children may be doing. For parents to be of the school of thought that their child wouldn’t/doesn’t do drugs, is not only naive, it is dangerous. Unfortunately, alcohol and marijuana are not the only drugs that high school students abuse. Prescription pills, cocaine, methamphetamine and yes, heroin, are all drugs that area teenagers use.

More often than not, what starts out as experimentation leads to a lifetime of addiction – and lives tragically cut short due to fatal overdoses.

Drug use is not glamorous, it is not chic, and it is certainly not cool. The old adage of “Just say no” bears repeating. And while it sounds cliche, if students are being pressured by their peers to try drugs, those peers can certainly not be called friends.

Parents, we urge you to talk to your kids about drugs, even if you have honor roll students or athletes as children. No one is immune, and all it takes to overdose or become an addict is ONE time.

A number of resources and organizations are available for prevention and recovery. The Allegheny County Overdose Prevention Coalition, POWER (Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery), Prevention Point Pittsburgh and local police departments are just a few.

Hopefully, with all of the resources dedicated to getting this batch off the streets, the number of fatalities stays at 22. And, with increased communication and awareness, perhaps addiction can be halted before it even begins.