Overdose database could help detect bad drugs, save lives, Dallas County DA says

The mapping tool could alert school and first responders when there is a batch of lethal drugs on the streets.

DALLAS - Dallas County District Attorney John Cruezot is calling on the city of Dallas to participate in a new mapping program that could provide real-time data about dangerous narcotics.

"We've seen young men die out partying, they meant to take Adderall, but instead got Fentanyl. It is my opinion people and entities outside America, when they do that are intending to kill Americans," Cruezot told members of Dallas City Council during a public safety meeting on Monday.

Cruezot is on the board of a drug trafficking program that covers North Texas and Oklahoma; one of 33 designated areas in the country.

The local office receives federal grant funds to try to reduce drug trafficking and its consequences.

"The illicit drugs are not made by doctors. You can have fake pills, they are not regulating how much Fentanyl is in them. You can have a bad batch. If they are causing people to pass out and die, the public need to know that," said Lance Sumpter, the Director of the Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program.

Sumpter is urging Dallas County to start using a mapping tool that could alert school and first responders when there is a batch of lethal drugs on the streets.

"If there were a significant amount of overdoses among high school-aged kids, a electronic message could go out to area school districts saying, hey, indicate to your kids there are bad drugs out there and be aware," he said.

The mapping system is already being used in Plano and Harris County.

Dallas City Council members said they needed to hear from Health and Human Services before making a decision.

Councilwoman Paula Blackmon said it is an issue her son is all too familiar with.

"I have my 25-year-old texting me weekly, asking me what am I going to do, because he has 10 friends who have died."