I-TEAM: A look at the faces of ongoing opioid crisis in CSRA

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - You would think the drug problem would be worse for our youth, but as we found, the data shows the opposite.

Our I-TEAM takes a deeper look at the crisis impacting our area.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, fentanyl is Augusta-Richmond County’s number one killer of adults ages 30 to 50 years old.

The Drug Enforcement istration says it’s 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

We constantly show you the number of overdoses and tell you how they’re only going up, but we often don’t get to see the faces behind the statistics.

Back in 2022, Alex King would’ve been 30 years old when he died of a fentanyl overdose, which was given to him by someone else.

Clifton Bates was 24 years old when he got prescriptions from the dentist. He eventually died of a fentanyl overdose.

At a rally in Augusta, we learned the names of Andrew Vowell and Peyton Marsh, who both overdosed on fentanyl.

We had two different children die from fentanyl, including 1-year-old Alexavia.

Our I-TEAM looked at the growing issue of fentanyl in our area early last year.

In April of 2022, more than 1,500 fentanyl pills were seized, according to an incident report.

Later that year, in May, more than 5,000 fentanyl pills were seized.

In August 2022, 81 grams of pressed pills and another 107 grams of meth mixed with fentanyl were seized.

Deputies say they found more than 1,100 fentanyl pills in October 2022 at one Augusta home.

This year, Grovetown police made a big fentanyl bust, finding 4 pounds of fentanyl pills.

Back in October 2023, Augusta had its largest fentanyl bust ever, when investigators seized 15 pounds of fentanyl, which was enough to kill more than 3 million people.

So, what’s being done to cut down on this epidemic?

In August 203, South Carolina signed the fentanyl trafficking bill into law.

We’re still waiting to see if the Drug-Induced Homicide Bill will be ed when lawmakers get back to work in January.

In Georgia, Wesley’s Law is for offenses involving drug-induced homicide. That’s in its second reading in the house.

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