Bad heroin blamed for spike in overdoses on West Side

According to Chicago officials, the number of heroin overdoses is steadily rising in the state.

Authorities in Chicago say a recent rise in heroin overdoses is continuing to climb. They are now hunting for the source of the drug, which appears to have been sold at two locations on the city’s West Side.

“We don’t know if it’s the beginning, middle or end of the surge”, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said of the overdoses.

Batches of very unsafe heroin, possibly laced with the painkiller fentanyl, have caused more than 20 overdoses on the West Side since Wednesday night, according to the Tribune.

Fire officials have now equipped paramedics and first responders with larger quantities of Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, Chicago Fire Department Cmdr.

Paramedics have been given extra Narcan to carry with them. At least 23 people have been taken to area hospitals in the last 24 hours after using heroin, police said.

Velez said Stroger Hospital’s Division of Toxicology is investigating further. A few believe it’s being manufactured at drug labs shipped up from Mexico.