By Kimberly Gasuras

Smaller and dangerously more potent doses of lab-produced heroin have made their way into Crawford County.

Since Oct. 1, Bucyrus Police Chief Dave Koepke said his department has investigated eight overdoses with six being opiate-related and the other two remaining undetermined.

“These doses of heroin are much more potent,” Koepke said. “People do not realize the danger they are putting themselves in just to keep from becoming dope sick.”

On Oct. 7, Bucyrus police officers responded to a report of an unconscious woman being dragged by a man in the 100 block of Poplar Street. It later was learned the woman had overdosed.

On Thursday, Oct. 19, police investigated a possible overdose on Emerson Street around 7 p.m., and at 10:07 p.m. on Friday, officers assisted Life Support Team EMS in the 100 block of Whetstone Street with a female visitor who suffered a non-fatal overdose and was treated. She was arrested for an active warrant and probation violation and taken to Crawford County Jail. And again on Sunday at 2:29 p.m., officers investigated the overdose of a 26-year-old Bucyrus woman in Clinton and Water Streets. She was treated and released at Bucyrus Hospital.

In Galion, a 43-year-old man died of a drug overdose on Oct. 2. On Oct. 17, police were called to the overdose of a man in the 500 block of Elmwood Drive. On Oct. 19, paramedics used Narcan on a female inside of a vehicle in the 600 block of Harding Way East.

Narcan is s drug used to reverse the effects of opioids.

Bucyrus Police also are investigating the death of a 45-year-old man on East Mansfield Street on Friday night.

“We know alcohol was involved, but do not know if it was drug-related until we get the autopsy results,” Koepke said.

Koepke said people struggling with addiction should call his department at 419-562-1006, even if they have a warrant.

“Having to deal with a little bit of court issues should not deter someone from seeking help. It is better to be alive,” said Koepke, who helped facilitate the department’s Operation Hope that is designed to help addicts secure rehabilitation.

Calls may be made to the Bucyrus Police Department at 419-562-1006.