MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Following a months’ long downward trend of overdose deaths in the Eastern Panhandle, Berkeley County Recovery Resources reports the numbers were ticking upward last month.

Quick Response Team member Kaitlyn Himes blames synthetic opioids. “The fentanyl, we know it’s here. The xylazine, we know it’s here. The other two are confirmed too. So, the medetomidine and the nidazine are essentially the same thing as fentanyl and xylazine, but more potent. So, the nitazine being that it’s the twin, if you want to call it that, to fentanyl, best case scenario is ten times more potent, worst-case scenario, 40 times more potent.”

“It’s not just in, you know, the opioid heroin supply. It’s in cocaine, it’s in methamphetamine,” said Recovery Resources Coordinator Stephanie Stout.

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