Statesboro Police Department seeing increase in drug overdose cases

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - The Statesboro Police Department posted to social media Tuesday to share the department has seen an increase in drug overdoses recently.

Statesboro’s police chief says a rise in local drug overdose deaths mirrors a problem growing nationwide.

Chief Mike Broadhead says his officers have already been called to seven drug overdose cases so far this year. That’s as many as they saw in all of 2022.

In fact, they’ve seen five deaths already compared to four last year. Broadhead says many cases share a common root.

“The problem is that fentanyl is so dangerous, it’s measured in micrograms. So if you put grams in something instead of micrograms, you’re going to kill somebody,” said Chief Broadhead.

He says dealers are mixing fentanyl into common recreational drugs to spread them further or mimic prescription pills.

“They don’t know what they’re getting. It might look like a legitimate pharmaceutical, but it was manufactured in a backyard lab somewhere.”

He says more people need to view drug addiction as an illness and look for ways to get people treated. Family and friends must be willing to help.

“There’s an amnesty law in Georgia that if you’re with someone who’s having an overdose, you can call for 911 to help them without suffering any repercussions or being arrested.”

He says drug courts and available treatment should help encourage people to get treatment and less worried about getting arrested.

He says this community and the nation as a whole has to pull together to deal with the issue.

The department mentioned that officers carry Narcan, but that can only be used if officers are alerted about a potential overdose in time.

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