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AUSTIN (KXAN) – The family of University of Texas student and Texas Longhorns linebacker Jake Ehlinger says the 20-year-old’s death in May was due to an accidental drug overdose.
“Absolute loss of word”: Longhorn’s linebacker Jake Ehlinger found dead off campus
In a statement posted on Thursday, the Ehlinger family said they learned that Jake was on the 6th. These types of counterfeit pills have been seen increasingly in Texas and across the country.
In a statement, the family wrote:
“As our family continues to process Jake’s death, it was important for us to share these details in the hope that Jake did not die in vain. We pray that sharing Jake’s story will help shed light on this problem and prevent other families from tragically losing a loved one. “
Ehlinger family
Ehlinger is the brother of former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts earlier this year. Jake served as the Longhorns walk-on linebacker after graduating from Westlake High School, where he received All-State Honors and named District 25-6A defensive MVP a senior.
Jake Ehlinger remembered: Friends, teammates, rivals honor the Texas Longhorns linebacker
Jake was a sophomore at UT’s McCombs School of Business, a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and a member of the Texas Silver Spurs student organization.
Ehlinger’s father died in 2013 while swimming in a triathlon in San Francisco. In Jake’s obituary, the Ehlinger family said that Jake and his father “had an unbreakable bond. They were each other’s biggest fans. “
Counterfeit pills in Texas
Fentanyl overdoses are exploding as drug dealers increasingly squeeze the dangerous drug into tablets that resemble common pain relievers like Xanax and OxyContin.
Fentanyl is an opioid that can be legally prescribed for conditions such as chronic pain and cancer, as well as illegally made for recreational use. It was founded in Belgium in 1960 by Dr. Paul Janssen, the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica – which is now part of Johnson & Johnson.
The drug is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and can be up to 60 times stronger than heroin, the DEA says.
Most illegal products come primarily from Mexico, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. On the street, it can be known as “China Girl”, “China White”, “Dance Fever”, “Poison” and “Tango & Cash”.
“Paid $ 10 for his death.” Warning of fentanyl from a Cedar Park family
The DEA says a lethal dose of fentanyl can be as little as two milligrams, depending on the user’s height and tolerance.
Synthetic opioids like fentanyl were responsible for over 73% of all opioid-related deaths in 2019 – of which more than 36,000 were, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to common fentanyl, there are a number of new drugs that are similar to it, including acetylfentanyl and carfentanil. While some of these similar drugs are less effective than fentanyl, some of them are even more powerful.
Counterfeit Oxycodone Pills Seized by Cedar Park Police (CPPD Photo)
Carfentanil is the strongest fentanyl analog, reports the CDC. It can also be up to 100 times stronger than fentanyl.
While fentanyl is up to 100 times stronger than morphine, carfentanil can be up to. be 10,000– times stronger than morphine. The DEA says a two milligram dose of carfentanil, normally used as a sedative for elephants and other large mammals, can be fatal. Visually, a lethal dose of carfentanil can be smaller than a pea.
Fentanyl and carfentanil are also added to some heroin, adding to the already deadly potential of heroin.
Last year, Austin police reported that at least five overdose deaths by the month of April were attributable to counterfeit oxycodone and Xanax pills containing fentanyl. Austin Police officers recently received funds to transport Narcan, the drug used to treat people believed to be suffering from an opioid overdose.
The latest data from CDC shows that from March 2019 to March 2020 there were 460 deaths from synthetic opioids in the state. In the next year, from March 2020 to March 2021, that number nearly tripled to 1,289 synthetic opioid overdoses.
“The most effective thing we can do is make sure that ordinary ordinary people, drug users, friends and family members of drug users are equipped with Narcan and know how to administer it,” said Lucas G. Hill, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy.
Hill says Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote, is one of the best ways to stop the deadly effects of medication. He says UT Austin Narcan has been available in dormitories since 2016 and pharmacy students are giving it away for free during on-campus training. Although COVID has slowed its spread, the school is restarting and sending targeted messages about the dangers of an overdose of synthetic opioids.
It is also noteworthy that in Texas, deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have increased rapidly since January 2020. As of January 2020, synthetic opioid overdose deaths are more common than cocaine, heroin, and natural and semi-natural opioids. The only drugs that cause more overdose deaths in Texas than synthetic opioids like fentanyl are “psychostimulants” like methamphetamine and amphetamine, according to the CDC.
Share your stories
Much like the Ehlinger family, a mother from central Texas shares her story to save others from losing a child from an overdose.
Annie Hernandez lost her son Joshua in 2019 after unknowingly taking a fentanyl-infused Xanax pill. She says he was in a car accident that led to pain reliever addiction. He was only 33.
“You can never imagine the pain of losing a child, and then the pain of losing a child to an overdose is even more problematic,” said Hernandez. “He didn’t want to die. And he didn’t want fentanyl. So why isn’t that viewed as murder? “
While still grappling with the daily pain of her son’s death, Hernandez is dedicated to educating the dangers of fentanyl and helping others cope with the same tragedy.
“You will never be the same again. I have two, there are two of me I was myself before Josh died and I have who I am now. And they’re two different people, ”said Hernandez. “He didn’t ask about this or that and I want to get that across, this fentanyl is so dangerous. It’s so dangerous. It’s a pill that can kill. “
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