Public Fentanyl Awareness Classes Offered By Pott County Sheriff’s Office

Several Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office deputies are going back to the classroom, but this time it is to teach. They want to educate the public about the deadly drug Fentanyl and how it is disguised.

On face value it looks like Oxycodone, Xanax, or even marijuana. However, the public is getting massive amounts of deadly counterfeits.  

“A lot of people don’t know there’s fentanyl laced pills,” Lt. Jared Strand with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office said. “It’s very dangerous and it kills you in a matter of seconds.”  

Lieutenant Jared Strand shares that message with students at Bethel Acres schools and he wants their parents to know what the deadly drug looks like. Strand and other deputies will teach a fentanyl awareness class next month for the public at Gordon Cooper Technology Center. 

“Educate them on how to identify counterfeit pills,” said Strand. “For parents, the different Emojis that are being used and the different apps that are being used.”

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics released numbers to News 9 showing there were 656 fentanyl deaths from January 2020 to present and agents seized 146 pounds of the party pills during the same time.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office shared video of a deputy who performed CPR for four minutes on an overdose victim. A witness can be heard telling the deputy she believed the victim took fentanyl.

Strand added sometimes Narcan is not enough to revive a person who has overdosed.

“A lot of stuff is time released and they’re having issues where people are using fentanyl and they use Narcan,” said Strand. “It works for just a little bit and when they get to the hospital they overdose again.”

Stand wants to teach the public how to prevent life-threatening situations.

 "To be proactive in it,” said Strand. “So, we’re not reactive and hopefully save many lives.”

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office fentanyl awareness classes are free to the public and begin 6 p.m. on February 1st. Three classes will be held that evening at the Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee.