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Chatham County CNT reports fewer fentanyl overdoses but flags xylazine and mixed-drug contamination
Summary
County criminal narcotics and treatment staff reported 51 overdose incidents last year (down from 86 the year prior), highlighted mixed toxicology results including fentanyl with xylazine and fentanyl with cocaine, described outreach programs and Narcan sourcing, and said prosecution work on overdose investigations continues.
Chatham County's Criminal Narcotics Team (CNT) and related public-safety staff reported Thursday that recorded opioid-involved overdose incidents in the county fell to 51 last year from 86 the year before, while cautioning that data may be affected by increased on-scene naloxone (Narcan) use and subsequent deaths at hospitals.
Director of CNT (identified in the meeting as Director Sarhad) told commissioners the office received 32 toxicology screens from recent cases; seven tests showed a combination of fentanyl and xylazine and 10 showed fentanyl with cocaine. He said two results included carfentanil, a highly potent synthetic, but that carfentanil appears rare in the county. "We're keeping an eye on it, but I hope we don't get there," Sarhad said.
Sarhad described local prevention and response programs, including an adult drug awareness platform (ADAPT) trailer that performed community outreach, a positive peer influencer program in seven high schools and associated middle-school presentations, and partnerships with Savannah-Chatham public schools for parental engagement. He said the CNT had already secured one conviction in an overdose-related investigation and had two additional prosecutions ready to submit to the district attorney's office.
The director also discussed naloxone distribution: CNT obtained two shipments of approximately 25,000 doses via grants and used $25,000 in confiscated funds to purchase additional supplies; staff said they continue to make Narcan available primarily through grants, opioid settlement funds and confiscated funds rather than the county's general fund. Sarhad said the department's role includes enforcement and targeted outreach but it draws a line at providing items that might be perceived as enabling use.
Commissioners asked whether school nurses had access to Narcan and were told they do; county officials said distribution to the public at large is not done by CNT. Sarhad warned that naloxone reverses opioid effects but does not reverse the sedative effects of xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer increasingly found in mixed-drug samples. He said xylazine-related cases are identifiable by characteristic injection wounds and sedation signs, and that national data show rising presence of xylazine in fentanyl seizures.
The county reported community outreach work, positive peer influencer training outcomes and ongoing major-case investigations; staff said they will continue prosecutions and monitoring of emerging substances.
