PRINCETON, W.Va.  — West Virginian state police officer was given Narcan after being exposed what he thought was fentanyl during a traffic stop earlier this month.

Officer and U.S. Army veteran, J.M. Ellison found a clear plastic baggie containing a white powder that he assumed was cocaine during a traffic stop a few weeks ago. Ellison said he smelled marijuana on the passenger and got permission to search the car. 

When he put the baggie on the hood of his cruiser, Ellison said the passenger of the stopped care took off running.

“I radioed [to Mercer 911] that I’d just found possible cocaine, just so they would know that was the possible reason why this guy was running. I put that on the hood of my car and turned,” Ellison said, with the intent to see where the suspect was running.

But, before he could follow the suspect, the effect of the drug took over, and he knew he wasn’t going anywhere. The shock of falling under the influence left him so stunned, he found it difficult to describe.

“It was just immediate. It was an overwhelming rush, and I just knew that I’d gotten into something bad,” Ellison said, a little more than a week after the exposure. “I started radioing for an ambulance, and I started radioing for anybody with Narcan.”

Deputy Tyler Rose arrived at the scene and gave Ellison one dose of Narcan, out of fear the he may have been exposed to fentanyl, a highly a powerful synthetic opioid that has gained popularity in West Virginia in the past year. Fentanyl is easy to overdose on and has been known to show extreme effects with little exposure. Narcan is an emergency treatment for opioid overdose.

It took about three hours for his symptoms to subside, Ellison said, and he stayed in the hospital overnight for observation.

Ellison said he is unsure exactly how he came in contact with the drug.

“I bet I’ve searched a thousand vehicles. I’ve been to Iraq twice, and I’ve never felt anything like that,” he said. “I think it was probably because I didn’t expect it. It was almost like it was a gas. It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever been through.”

Ellison’s uniform, evidence and everything else he had encountered that night were immediately bagged and transported to the West Virginia State Police Crime Lab in South Charleston, where Carrie Kirkpatrick is the section supervisor for the Drug Identification Section with the Forensic Laboratory.

Kirkpatrick said she spent a significant amount of time attempting to isolate exactly what caused Ellison’s reaction that fateful night.

“It appears to have been cocaine,” said this week, but she wasn’t sure exactly how he came into contact with the drug.

Kirkpatrick said her tests did not show any evidence of fentanyl.

“It’s designed to be more powerful than morphine, and it’s supposed to be given by somebody that’s in a healthcare setting, who can watch you and make sure your body is reacting the way it’s supposed to,” Kirkpatrick explained.

Kirkpatrick recommended anyone who encounters any potential drug to wear protective gear or simply not open an unidentified substance without the proper items or authorized personnel present.

“If you have a bag of powder and you pick it up, you can potentially expose yourself, just by picking it up without gloves on. It can go right through your skin,” she said.

Toler writes for the Princeton, West Virginia Times.