By Sarah Volpenheim
Marion — Police are investigating (click here) a bump in overdoses that sent more than a dozen people to the hospital over nine days at the end of March.
The Marion Police Department has seen a rise in the number of drug overdoses in March, with police responding to 24 suspected overdoses in the month, compared with seven in January and 10 in February, said Marion Police Lt. Chris Adkins. Four of the 24 suspected overdoses in March were fatal, Adkins said.
"It's higher than we've seen the last several months," Adkins said. "I wouldn't say it's not typical. It's just kind of unnerving, I guess, to figure out why it happens."
Adkins said the spike was concentrated between March 21 and 29, when police responded to 14 suspected overdoses.
There could be a number of reasons for the recent uptick in overdose calls, Adkins said, including an uptick in recovering users relapsing or a stronger batch of heroin or fentanyl being sold on the street....
I believe when a CLUSTER of drug overdoes occurs is because there was a change of some kind in supply. There certainly wasn't a group of people that got together and said, "Hey, let's through a party to confuse police over the stretch of ten days."
The same would hold true for increased deaths due to drug overdoes. The supply changed in some way. It may even be a new dealer that is trying to establish a clientele. But, rarely is it a conscious effort by people to make a mark on the calendar.
I think the Marion Police have displayed a concern for the community in tracking these changes and acting on them to bring about a clearer understanding of their community and the dangers that lie within it. I think this is great work. Also, the news media bringing these findings by the police to the community is an act of compassion in hopes those that can be effected can be stopped by people who care about them, including social agencies.
