Wheat Ridge police arrested a woman on Saturday after she was found unconscious in a car after using fentanyl as her 6-year-old child cried out for help.
A mail carrier heard the 6-year-old calling for help and called 911, police said in a statement.
The mother had pulled over, used fentanyl and passed out, police said. Officers arrested the mother on suspicion of child abuse, and the child is staying with a family member, police said.
“It’s imperative people who make the decision to use a dangerous — even deadly substance — behind the wheel are off the streets before they hurt themselves, their passengers (their own families), or your family,” police said in the statement.
This was the second car-related fentanyl arrest made in Wheat Ridge over the weekend. On Saturday, a police officer saw a woman passed out in a vehicle in a motel parking lot. The vehicle was stolen, and the woman in the vehicle had used fentanyl, police said.
The arrests come as Colorado leaders, law enforcement and public health officials grapple with how best to address the spiraling fentanyl overdose crisis. The synthetic opioid has contributed to an increasing amount of deaths in recent years and, in 2021, was involved in roughly 50% of the state’s more than 1,600 fatal overdoses.
The drug is unique: It’s far more potent than heroin or morphine, and 2 milligrams is generally considered to be a fatal dose. It’s also becoming an increasingly dominant presence in the illicit drug market, replacing legitimate pills — now much more tightly controlled — and heroin, which takes more effort to cultivate and process.
Denver Gazette reporter Seth Klamann contributed to this report.
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