Award-Winning Student Run Newspaper Speaker who survived suicide attempt confronts mental health stigma Page 4
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Vol. LXIII • Issue II
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Volleyball senior reaches milestone only six others achieved Page 7
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THELOQUITUR.COM
Thursday Oct. 7, 2021
Radnor police probe of fentanyl-laced edibles finds no trace of deadly opioid; Pa. state officials still on alert with reports of it in other regions By Anna Schmader News Editor
Radnor police officials confirmed this week that an investigation into a case of suspected fentanyl-laced edibles ingested by area youth found no traces of the deadly opioid.
Joseph Fusco, director of public safety, confirmed Friday, Sept. 24, that the only information regarding the fentanyl-laced edibles that he has is the email that was sent on Monday, Sept. 13.
Yet, because two individuals, both underage, were rushed to the hospital after consuming edibles, police alerted Cabrini officials to communicate the potential dangers. Radnor Police Lieutenant Joe Pinto said hospital records indicated that no fentanyl was found in their system.
After an alert was sent Monday, Sept. 13, director of residence life, Brett Buckridge, confirmed Friday that this email did involve students but off-campus. He mentioned he wanted students to be aware and on alert to ensure safety. Fentanyl is a deadly synthetic opioid that police say is being bought and sold in the suburban Philadelphia area.
Still, the rise in fentanyl deaths, coupled with an increase of the deadly opioid mixed with other street drugs, put local authorities on high alert, he said. “We have a report that three females in a vehicle on King of Prussia road had a reaction to edibles,” Pinto, a long-serving member of the Radnor County Drug Task Force, said. “We have concluded from the investigation that the gummy bears were in fact nothing else but cannabinoid.” With fentanyl being found in more and more street drugs, he said: “You’re taking life into your own hands when taking anything off the streets in Philadelphia,” Lieutenant Joe Pinto, a long-serving member of the Radnor County Drug Task Force, said. Fentanyl is a highly powerful synthetic opioid that can be mixed or cut with other illicit drugs that can result in overdoses or deaths. According to the DEA, one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.
“We had students involved but not on campus,” Buckridge said. “Other reports from Villanova were similar so we wanted to inform our students to make a safer community.” Pennsylvania drug prevention officials are reporting similar trends across the state. Ali Gantz, communications director with the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, said a public health alert went out last week after a “rash of overdoses out in Berks County” and other reports of fentanyl-laced edibles. Edibles include brownies, gummies, candies and other edibles that marijuana can be packaged in. “We are seeing an increasing trend of fentanyl and xylazine being introduced into varying substances across the commonwealth,” Gantz said. “We encourage individuals to keep naloxone handy at all times in case of an emergency. If you are unsure whether someone may be experiencing an overdose, always err on the side of caution and call 911 immediately.”
In 2020, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 5,172 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania, up by more than 14 percent in the previous year. According to data from the Department of Health, preliminary estimates for 2020 show 3,795 drug overdose deaths (75% of drug overdose deaths) involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogs. *It is noted that Lieutenant Pinto spoke to Cabrini Public Safety and there was no correlation to what happened on KOP road with the Cabrini community. “The attitude towards drug use is shifting; the marijuana kids are using today is much different,” Pinto said. He emphasized that the marijuana on the street today is much more potent and “effective at doing what it needs to do,” and he considers it ‘a gateway drug.’ “It hurts to know there are people getting hurt, especially those directly affected from our community,” Caroline Boileau, senior criminology and sociology student, said. “I hope those who need help get help.” When John Mager, a senior history major, saw the Cabrini alert, he got his friend to share it. “I got my friend to put it on his story because he knows more people that are involved with that contraband,” John Mager, senior history major, said. Please call 911 if you need help or assistance The National Substance Abuse Hotline at 800-662-4357 is
also available.
The center on immigration joins the fight to shut down Berks and to support Haitian immigration By Rodrigo Campos-Sanchez Perspective Editor Those who have been running the Berks County Residential Center call it a “Family center.” But crowds of protesters who gathered at Independence Hall know that it is a detention center and are speaking out to call for its closure, saying that it is a detention center that victimizes immigrants and then deports them. “Shut down Berks!” and “Sí se puede!” — (“Yes it’s possible!”)!” protestors chanted. On Saturday, Sept. 25, dozens of groups, bystanders and Cabrini’s Center on Immigration gathered at Independence Mall to protest the new plans for the center. Among the protestors was a congresswoman who toured the Berks facility twice and like other attendees, wants to end the practice of imprisoning immigrant families. “They like to call it a family center but it is a detention center. I was there and met with families that were there for more than 100 days. It is a place people are deported from. The description of it is gravely wrong,” Madeleine Dean Cunnane, congresswoman, said.
“It is so important that the Biden administration recognizes with humanity, the refugees that are coming to our borders. Now, with the 15,00 Haitians seeking asylum, I call for the Biden administration to stop deportation flights and sending these people back to a country that is sadly still suffering from a horrible earthquake, gang violence and the assassination of its president.” The issues in Haiti underscore the need to address this now. From the opening of the Berks County Residential Center in 2001 to 2021, activists have not stopped the clash to shut down Berks. Finally, for now, there are no families in the detention center. But there are thousands of Haitian immigrants being deported back to Haiti which at the moment, is a country that does not have an official president since President Jovenel Moïse‘s assassination on July 7, 2021. When President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. stepped into office on January 20, 2021, many families stepped out of the detention center. But the center has yet to be shut down permanently. The possibility of filling the detention center again may be high since commissioners signed a new contract with U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement to now house only adult women at the detention center. Women that may be Haitian refugees. “It has been hard for the Haitian community. Flight deportations have not helped the country or the people. Many have lost connections to the country being that many have not seen Haiti in years. The United States got smart by removing everyone from under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas. But they will still lock refugees up, put them in centers very similar to Berks County Residential Center and deport them,” Steve Paul, Pennsylvania state director, said. “As a black immigrant from Haiti, I and many like myself can say that we feel invisible and can say that we feel that we are seen as less than human. The United States has a history of antiblackness.”
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