Minnesota's opioid epidemic isn't getting any better, Vince Scheckel told an audience of about 75 at the Stewartville High School Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Scheckel, a captain with the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office and the commander of the southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement Team, was a featured speaker at a community drug awareness and trends session that evening. In a PowerPoint presentation, Scheckel shared statistics showing that of 172 recent Minnesota deaths that involved synthetic opioids, 156 of them, or 91 percent, had fentanyl listed as a contributor to the death. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine... For more on this story pick up your copy of the Jan. 29 Stewartville STAR.
