The Drug Enforcement Administration has released a new public service announcement aimed at law enforcement to raise awareness of the danger officers face when they come in contact with the drug fentanyl in the field.
The DEA is warning officers to take extra precautions if they come in contact with the drug, which is considered to be 50 times more powerful than heroin, according to The Washington Times.
The video features two New Jersey police officers who accidentally inhaled the powder version of the synthetic opioid while collecting the drug as evidence. A detective describes trying to seal the plastic bag that contained the drug.
"A bunch of it poofed up into the air, right in our face, and we ended up inhaling it," Atlantic County Investigator D. Kallen says.
Atlantic City Detective E. Price adds: "I felt like my body was shutting down."
Officials say that coming in contact with the drug can be deadly.
"Fentanyl is so dangerous that we have had to instruct our agents that if they touch it or inhale it accidentally, they can die," DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg told a Senate committee last week. "If they are a canine officer and their dog sniffs it, perhaps because it's laced in heroin, that dog can die."
Because of this, officers have been trained how to administer naloxone to one another as well as to civilians they may may encounter who are having an overdose.
"If you encounter this during your daily duties, don’t field test it in your car, or on the street, or take if back to the office," Acting Deputy Administrator Jack Riley says in the video. "Transport it directly to a laboratory, where it can be safely handled and tested."
