Health officials in Montana said there were at least eight fatal drug overdoses between May 22 and June 1 in the state, blaming them all on fentanyl and calling the recent trend an “alarming number of fatal overdoses.”
Officials found blue M30 pills near those who died, which they said are likely counterfeit pills that contain the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The drug is between 50 and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and it has led to hundreds of thousands of fatal overdoses across the United States in recent years.
“Counterfeit pills containing fentanyl are becoming increasingly common nationally, and in Montana are taken by people who misuse diverted prescription opioids as well as those who inject, smoke, or snort drugs,” the Montana Department of Health said Tuesday….