19 April 2023
LANE COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — A story we first reported on Monday, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office warning people about meth inside of a dollar bill. Within the last two days, over 4 million people have clicked on that story on KSN’s website.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said it wanted to share what was found inside the dollar bill for two reasons:
With the county being one of the smallest in the state, they wanted to get the word out and raise awareness that drugs are in rural Kansas.
“A dollar is a dollar. Most people will just pick it up, but they just need to be aware that it has always been a way for people to store drugs. It’s just now that fentanyl is around it can be pretty hazardous,” said Lane County Undersheriff Travis Montgomery.
Montgomery said he is happy to hear people are seeing the story because these drugs are more common than people think.
“In our small community, unfortunately, we just recently had an overdose fatality in our county of fentanyl, so I mean, it is everywhere,” said Undersheriff Montgomery.
Finney and Barton County are also dealing with an increase in fentanyl.
“It’s also being intermixed with other drugs that are commonly sold on the streets like methamphetamine,” said Finney County Captain of Investigations, Jennifer Rogers.
It can add to the danger that comes with drug use.
“As for fentanyl, the margin for error is very, very slim. You’re talking a difference in a few micrograms could be fatal or not,” said Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir.
In rural parts of the state, Sheriff Bellendir said law enforcement officers are scarce.
“We have a lot of territory to cover, and it is hard for us to stay on top of this. We do the best we can and work on what we’ve got, but we’ve only got so many resources out here,” said Sheriff Bellendir.
All the departments, Lane, Finney, and Barton keep Narcan close by for officers and take extra precautions when handling unknown substances to avoid any accidental overdoses.
“Just taking those extra steps to ensure that everybody goes home at night, so it’s definitely been an awareness factor for us,” said Rogers.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office and EMS are holding a Narcan information meeting on May 9 at 7 p.m. at the Bible Fellowship Church Fellowship Hall.
If you find any cash or other items with an unknown substance, law enforcement said to wash your hands immediately and call 911.