Fentanyl now in 70% of street drugs and overdose deaths on the rise, coroner's office says

Already this year, nearly 30 people have died in Lafayette Parish alone. In 2015, fentanyl deaths were at zero in Lafayette Parish.

LAFAYETTE PARISH, La. (KLFY)-- Fentanyl is now in 70 percent of street drugs, according to the Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office. Statistics also show a steady increase in fentanyl overdose deaths since 2015.

Already this year, nearly 30 people have died in Lafayette Parish alone. In 2015, fentanyl deaths were at zero in Lafayette Parish. The fentanyl overdose deaths have slowly but surely spiking year after year, with only an exception in 2023.

"It's here in Lafayette, and it's not going away," Keith Talamo, Chief Medicolegal Death Investigator, said. "70% of drugs taken off the street contain fentanyl. This is fake pills made to look like Adderall, Xanax, OxyContin, Percocet, cocaine, methamphetamines."

"People are selling it as cocaine, but it's fentanyl and baby powder, sold as another substance. Fentanyl in baby laxatives, sold as another substance," he added.

Talamo said fentanyl only takes three grains, equivalent to the size of salt, to kill.

"You can't see it. You can't smell it. You don't know it's there," he added.

It's a problem that hasn't been around for very long.

"An overdose for be used to be prolonged drug abuse makes your heart give out. Now we're seeing first-time users, we're seeing experimental users. We're seeing people who have been doing drugs for a while," Talamo said.

Talamo explained people younger and younger are dying. He said a partial reason is that cocaine and MDMA making big comebacks for college-aged adults.

"Now fentanyl is in these drugs. It's a whole new world," he told News 10.

He added that fentanyl can touch anyone: young or old, black or white, and rich or poor.

"It's everybody. I've been to million-dollar houses, and I've pulled people out of ditches," Talamo added.

The best advice he has is for parents.

"The easiest thing for a parent to say is, 'My kid won't do it, not my kid.' The hardest thing for a parent to say when something happened to your kid is, 'Why didn't I?' Talamo said. "Don't ever, ever think your kids not going to do it. Assume that your kids are doing it."

News 10 also got statistics for fentanyl-related deaths in Iberia Parish from the coroner's office. It shows the same pattern exists in parishes across Acadiana.

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