In Rochester, 1 fentanyl OD death in Jan., Feb. 2022; 3 in same timeframe this year

Fentanyl comes in a myriad of forms, including pills, powder and crystal, but they're all equally deadly (DEA/Courtesy)

ROCHESTER - If January and February are indicators, this could be a deadly year for Rochester's fentanyl-using community.
Statistics from Rochester Police show that fentanyl overdose deaths in the city rose threefold from 2022 to 2023.
In January and February of 2022 there were 12 overdoses and one overdose death, compared to the same timeframe this year when there were 14 overdoses and three overdose deaths, according to statistics provided by Rochester Police Support Commander and Public Information Officer Andrew Swanberry.
With Mexican cartels bringing thousands of pounds of fentanyl across a porous southern border, federal officials now estimate that the equivalent of almost 380 doses was brought into the country last year, enough doses to kill every American.
New Hampshire has also seen a spike in the number of overdose deaths statewide, where the number of fatal overdoses went from 393 in 2020 to 425 last year.
Swanberry said that including March there have been four fatal overdoses year-to-date.
"In this same time period in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 we had 6, 4, 5, 2, and 4 fatal overdoses, respectively," he said.
Swanberry added that all of the fatal overdoses year-to-date have been male: ages 36, 42, 57, and 61.
Another measurement of the fentanyl crisis in Rochester and all of Strafford County is the number of drug possession and trafficking grand jury indictments that are handed down every month.
The Strafford County March indictments number 73, of which more than a third are related to either possession or trafficking illicit drugs. Even more disturbing is that of the 27 drug indictment handed down, 14 were for possession, while almost as many - 13 - were for trafficking.
Fentanyl was far and away the drug most prevalent on the indictment list.