A synthetic opioid more potent than fentanyl has caused 10 overdose deaths in the Upper Cumberland over the last several days.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said the drug is called Carfentanil. A drug developed as an elephant tranquilizer that is often used directly or as a heroin lacing.
“Obviously some of those are in Putnam County,” Farris said. “The drugs are just flowing so bad right now across the boarder. We just can’t stop it. It seems like law enforcement is having a tough time of having any type of impact.”
Farris said the numbers continue a rising trend over the past year. Farris said Upper Cumberland overdose totals have been “off the charts.”
“That’s troubling to me and that number is up and continues to go up,” Farris said. “Somehow someway, we got to get some things in place at the boarder to slow the people and the drugs coming across.”
Farris said 85 percent of people incarcerated in the Putnam County Jail are in due to drug-related or indirect-related crimes. Farris said the numbers are concerning since violent crimes often spawn from a drug issue.
“It is certainly something that we don’t want here,” Farris said. “We got a very small amount of it, but we definitely don’t want it to increase. So trying to figure out some things here to stop and slow this down.”
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