Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007

Drug-laced ‘lollipops’ found at Damascus High School

Police seek help in tracing the source

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Photo courtesy of Montgomery County Police
Fentanyl-laced ‘‘lollipops” were found at Damascus High School.
Drug-laced ‘‘lollipops” that contain a narcotic painkiller have been found at Damascus High School.

County police are investigating the possible illegal use and circulation of 20 to 50 so-called lollipops containing the prescription drug Fentanyl. The drug is an opium derivative that is 80 times more powerful in numbing pain than morphine.

Fentanyl is considered extremely dangerous and possibly fatal if misused, police reported.

‘‘The risk is if someone licks it they will be high, but if someone bites into it then they could overdose,” said Capt. Thomas C. Didone, commander of the fifth police district.

The Fentanyl lollipops look like medicine, not like typical candy lollipops, he said. They have an attractive taste and are usually berry-flavored, county police reported.

The lollipops were created to dispense a potent painkiller to people with chronic pain who are afraid to take a pill or receive an injection, police said. It is most commonly used to treat cancer, Didone said.

An anonymous resident told the police about the sighting of the drug earlier this month, Cpl. Sonia Pruitt, a county police spokeswoman, said. There is no evidence that the drug has spread beyond the Damascus area, she said.

The lollipop drugs are sold on the street for $20, even though their retail value is $9.

Didone thinks two boxes of the lollipops were obtained illegally. Police are investigating how they ended up in the hands of Damascus High School students, he said.

‘‘When this was brought to our attention we came forward to let the community know it is not a recreational drug,” Didone said. ‘‘We wanted to make sure parents were aware to be on the lookout.”

Police are asking parents to talk to their children about the dangers of Fentanyl lollipops.

Anyone with any information about the lollipop drug is asked to call Officer Bill Morrison at 240-876-7575.

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