Grand Rapids Police

(MLive file photo)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Grand Rapids Police Department has issued a public safety warning that a dangerous drug is circulating around the city.

On Friday, Jan. 20, GRPD responded to five drug overdose incidents. In each case, Narcan was administered by first responders and all five victims were saved.

During the weekend of Jan. 13, GRPD responded to eight instances of overdose and one resulted in death. The remaining seven victims were administered Narcan.

Police suspect that Fentanyl or another type of synthetic opioid is responsible for an unusually high number of overdoses in the last two weeks.

Fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times as potent as morphine. It can be consumed alone or mixed with cocaine or heroin.

Users do not need a lot of Fentanyl to overdose. As little as the equivalent of a few grains of salt can be deadly due to the drug's rapid rate of absorption into the human body.

The GRPD Vice Unit is investigating each case in hopes of finding out where the drugs were obtained in order to prevent further overdoses.