Over time, the incidence of prescription drug abuse has increased, and during that time the drugs people choose to abuse have become more potent.
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the abuse of prescription pain killers ranks only behind marijuana as the country's most prevalent drug used.
Vicodin, Oxycontin and methadone, among a variety of other prescription drugs, have had their moments as the "in" drug of the moment.Now it appears that fentanyl is becoming the drug of choice.
From high school and college kids to people in their 50s, fentanyl is seeing an increase in popularity.
Fentanyl is an opioid pain killer that is approximately 81 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is so strong that it is prescribed in micrograms rather than grams.
When abused, the user often takes a patch with a gel inside, cuts it open, then places a part of it in their mouth as if it's chewing tobacco.
Most patches that are prescribed to people with chronic pain, such as cancer patients, are three-day patches, which release the drug over a two-day to seven-day period.
Most patches prescribed are of the three-day variety.
Therefore, if someone chooses to abuse fentanyl and takes half of a three-day patch and uses it, they have put 1.5 days worth of a substance that is 81 times more potent than morphine in their system.
People who use items such as fentanyl properly have also built up a drug tolerance over time.
The problem with people who use it recreationally is they don't have such a tolerance and also tend to mix it with alcohol or other drugs, which leads to death by "multiple drug toxicity."
The half life of fentanyl lasts for 17 hours, not as much as methadone, and that leads to abusers to stack doses, which leads to deadly amounts of the drug in the body's system.
How quickly the body absorbs the drug is also dependent on the size of the person as well as the placement of the patch.
Fentanyl can lead to depressed lung capacity, pulmonary adema, coma and brain swelling.
In January of this year, the Times-Union released an article citing the dangers of the abuse, not properly prescribed usage, of methadone.
In 2007, 12 people in Kosciusko County died due to multiple drug toxicity with methadone being a factor.
County Coroner John Sadler said his office sees spikes of deaths caused by overdoses and that getting the word out about the dangers of prescription drug abuse is paramount.
"We'll see a spike, then when information is put out there we'll go six months without an overdose," said Sadler. "Then it wears off and starts again."
This year, three have died with fentanyl being a factor.
The most high profile of those three cases was Zachary England, 27, Leesburg, whose death not only led to dozens of letters to the editor but also caused his parents to act.
"I think a lot of parents are naive," said Zachary's mom, Mary England, with husband Ron. "I was never naive."
During a meeting with Sadler, Warsaw Police Department Detective Tony Faucett and a drug task force officer at the England's home, the topic of fentanyl abuse was discussed.
Illicit fentanyl use has became prevalent in big cities, such as Chicago and Detroit, but isn't immune to smaller communities like those in Kosciusko County.
"We know people who said that it's really popular at colleges," said Mary England.
While fentanyl has became a new party drug, the effects of its abuse are deadly.
"If we can save one person from this drug then it's worth it," said Mary England.
After the holidays, the Englands plan to get together with the WPD and speak to DARE classes to lend a personal story to the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
"I want to commend Ron and Mary for what they're doing," said Sadler. "When people hear stories like this, that's what can get somebody to stop."
Lawsuits involving the safety of the the fentanyl patch have sprung up in the last three years and there have also been recalls of some patches.
