THOMASVILLE — A deadly form of an illegal drug is killing users statewide — 17 to date in 2017, equalling the total number for 2016 — authorities said.

The illegal form of fentanyl and its derivatives were discovered in Thomas County in 2016. The drug is suspected in an overdose death of a Thomas County resident last week. Autopsy results are pending.

The legitimate form of the drug is administered through a patch or slow time-release form for people in extreme pain.

“Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine,” a Thomas County/Thomasville Narcotics/Vice Division agent said.

The illegal form of drug is so potent that an amount the size of a grain of rice would be lethal to someone who had not used the substance and had no immunity built up, said Louis Schofill, narcotics/vice division commander.

Schofill said cases have been discovered in Thomas County in which children of parents or grandparents using the legitimate patch remove them from the trash and chew the patches to obtain the drug.

Illicit fentanyl is manufactured in China and enters the United States through the mail.

“It’s airborne, it can be breathed in. It can be absorbed though the skin,” Schofill said. 

The substance is dangerous to postal workers and to law enforcement officers, who must package it to send to a lab, authorities said. For users, it is unregulated and dangerous.

“You have no idea what you’re getting,” Schofill said, adding that the drug is being mixed with other substances, including methamphetamine.

The commander said his greatest fear about the substance is that a drug agent will be hurt by it. Respirators and an antidote are being obtained for agents handling the drug.

The Georgia Bureau of investigation reported that the agency’s crime lab has received about 50 cases this year involving the illicit drug. Many of the cases contained three or four different additional opiates.

The GBI has issued a statewide officer safety alert warning officers to use extreme caution and to use personal protective equipment when handling or packaging any synthetic opioid. 

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820