BY DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

DR David Allen, a renowned Bahamian psychiatrist who witnessed the horrors of the crack cocaine epidemic in the Bahamas, warned that illicit fentanyl is more dangerous and deadly after officials noted that two people have died in Grand Bahama this year with the substance in their system.

“I am here because I sense something is happening, it is here in your community,” he said during a police town meeting in Grand Bahama.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles indicated that forensic investigations confirmed that three young men had fentanyl in their systems when they died in the last six months.

Dr Allen said three deaths is a lot in a short space of time.

He said unlike cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana, a person can die in three minutes after ingesting illicit fentanyl.

“First, they get very high, then they experience euphoria, then they get sad, and then they fall asleep, but they are not sleeping, they are dying,” he said. “It is a drug you must not take.”

Officials revealed last year that since 2018, when illicit fentanyl was highlighted as a problem, there have been five overdose cases in The Bahamas.

Dr Allen noted that since 2018, about 400,000 Americans have died from the drug.

“We could get knocked out in two months,” he said. “We cannot have this; we can’t have an epidemic of fentanyl in The Bahamas –– we can’t!”

Dr Allen noted that fentanyl comes in different forms: multi-colour small pills, powders, and sprays. Many people may consume it unknowingly, he said.

“We found a pill factory, so it’s here in The Bahamas,” he ssaid.

The psychiatrist said NARCAN is the only antidote that can prevent fentanyl overdose. He believes police officers and teachers should have it.

Pathologist Dr Mandy Pedican, Inspector Latoya Mitchell, Chief Superintendent Thurston, officer in charge of the Central Detective Unit, and Chief Superintendent Collie in the Forensic Science Division were panel presenters at the town meeting at Christ the King Hall on Wednesday evening.