LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — For the first time, the Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office has reported over 100 overdose deaths in a year.
A drug that killed zero people in Lafayette Parish just six years ago, killed 96 people in 2021. The fact is fentanyl deaths have been doubling in Lafayette Parish every year since 2018.
“When fentanyl started to come onto the scene, we started to see more overdoses,” Keith Talamo, Lafayette Parish Coroner Medicolegal Death Investigator, explained.
According to records sent from Talamo, fentanyl accounted for only a dozen deaths from 2009-2015, but the opiate is responsible for 198 deaths in the parish from 2016-2021.
The street drug has also gone from being a small contributor to the total amount of overdose deaths to the clear frontrunner, accounting for 0-10% of overdose deaths in the parish from 2009-2015. In the past three years, fentanyl has been found in 45% (2019), 60% (2020), and 70% of Lafayette Parish overdose victims.
Keith Talamo said fentanyl is affecting all ages, races, and social classes. He has some theories why fentanyl deaths have doubled the past four years.
“Population and the strength of the drugs. The fentanyl is I guess more potent than we’ve ever seen before,” Talamo stated.
Coroner’s records show rarely is someone who overdoses with fentanyl found with it alone. It’s often laced into heroin, cocaine, meth and other drugs to make them cheaper and more potent.
Kady Douglas, founder and managing operator of Acadiana Harm Reduction said, “It takes only three sand grains of fentanyl to kill somebody.”
Douglas has been working to reduce the number of fentanyl deaths since 2019 when her best friend died to an overdose. Instead of seizing the drugs like police, Acadiana Harm Reduction through donations provides fentanyl testing kits to detect the substance and Narcan to counteract an overdose.
Through the efforts, Douglas shared the non-profit has saved over a hundred lives.
“Somebody has to be there for those in-between people. A lot of times getting clean is the last step for a lot of people in a really long journey, sometimes a lifelong journey.
And the thing is if we can help people while they are down, they are more likely to get up,” Douglas concluded.
Two years ago, Douglas’ non-profit was giving away 4 Narcan doses a month. Now they are distributing 150 doses a month. They are currently running a fundraiser to distribute Narcan along Mardi Gras parade routes to get ahead of annual overdose spike.
Douglas advice is to “Reach out to your friends, never use alone, and always carry Narcan.”
