Drugs in the Northland: Overdoses Clog ER

How Emergency Rooms are Tackling the Problem

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Area first responders and law enforcement saw a spike in synthetics this summer they told us hadn’t occurred in years.

In the Emergency Room time is vital.

A local doctors told us the increase in drug use is now often leaving medical staff strapped for availability, which means other patients in need like you and I, could be kept waiting longer than usual.

It was a fix many thought would take synthetics off the streets for good in Duluth, the closing of The Last Place on Earth.

More than 2–years later and the drugs are back and packing a punch.

“We had a spike during the summer of 2015 in synthetics. It’s probably attributed to stuff that is coming through the mail,” said Lieutenant Jeff Kazel with Duluth Police.

It’s fairly easy to pick your position.

A click of the mouse and you can order synthetics online delivered to your doorstep.

“During that summer period we were able to collect some of the product out there and had it analyzed. We discovered some new chemicals that are being used and are currently not scheduled,” said Lt. Kazel.

If a drug isn’t schedules it meant it’s legal.

Kazel said the police department submitted a request to the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy to have the chemicals made illegal.

As of late October Duluth Police reported 18 synthetic overdoses in 2015.

“In particular I think about one day where I had three gentlemen come in who had been smoking synthetic marijuana together. Two were critically ill and one wasn’t and he recovered while he was here in the ER. As he recovered he grew progressively more and more alarmed about his friends,” recalled Todd Struckman a physician in St. Luke’s Emergency Room.

Struckman said not only are the long–term effects of synthetics unknown, they clog up the waiting room.

“For example, if I have a patient who comes in with agitated delirium that will require security staff or several nurses to either restrain that person or sedate them and that is a process that takes longer than you might think,” explained Struckman.

Thirty to sixty minutes later and staff has only had time to help one patient.

Struckman said despite all the drugs on the market alcohol is the most abused substance in his opinion.

“I might go weeks without seeing anyone severely ill from synthetics or any other related drug but I will every day see somebody in the ER for alcohol use,” said Struckman.

Authorities said another drug is also making a comeback, Methamphetamine and it’s not the same recipe used a decade or so ago.

“It’s not like a ma and pa type deal where they are putting it in a coke can and making it in their basement. This is pounds and pounds of product that they are putting out,” said Lt. Kazel.

Kazel said a majority of Meth is produced in labs in Mexico.

It’s a problem not only in the Twin Ports but across the Northland.

If you’re struggling with an addiction or know someone who is there is help available for you.