"One pill can kill": Minnesota authorities stress dangers of fentanyl as overdoses rise
MINNEAPOLIS — One pill can kill — that was the message federal and state partners stressed as illicit fentanyl continues to circulate.
The DEA took about 2.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl off Minnesota streets last year alone. Despite that eye-popping number, it's not enough.
Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and responsible for ripping families apart, including Michelle Loberg's.
RELATED: WCCO investigates the fentanyl crisis in Minnesota
Oct. 12, 2020, will always be a dark day for Loberg.
"I just really wanted to say goodnight and tell him I was proud of him," Loberg said.
Instead, she walked in on her 20-year-old son Nicholas unconscious and suffering from fentanyl poisoning after purchasing what he believed was heroin.
That day she lost a piece of her, but she's turning her pain into purpose and fighting to save lives.
In 2022, nearly all of the 922 synthetic opioid-related deaths involved fentanyl, according to the state health department.
That's why federal and state partners are working overtime to keep pills off the streets.
The United States Attorney's Office along with the Drug Enforcement Administration hosted a community conversation focused on fentanyl awareness and prevention Wednesday afternoon.
"It's not getting better," said United States Attorney General Andrew Luger. "It's getting worse, pills are cheaper, market is being flooded we need to both as much enforcement we can decrease demand."
And with those cheap counterfeit pills, people may not know what they're buying is cut with fentanyl.
Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rafael Mattei says seven out of ten pills seized and had two milligrams of fentanyl, which can be lethal.
RELATED: More Minnesotans, including children, succumbing to fentanyl-related deaths
Mattei believes enforcement combined with education can help bring this crisis under control.
"We are not going to be able to out-arrest ourselves out of this, we need the public, partners and teachers," Mattei said.
Educating on the dangers of just one pill, as law enforcement partners continue investigating and prosecuting.
Getting help for an addiction is available for free 24/7. Call 800-662-HELP to get access to the resources needed.