DALTON, Ga. — There's a claim being pushed out on social media from Georgia's U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that some car door handles outside a Dalton shopping center were being laced with fentanyl.
11Alive is verifying the claims to find out if a person can overdose by touching the drug when it's "laced" on a door handle. We also check with law enforcement to see if they had received any recent reports of this.
THE QUESTION
Can you overdose on fentanyl by touching it when it's on a door handle?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No. Medical experts say a person will not overdose in that manner.
WHAT WE FOUND
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that's up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. While pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain and can come in a patch form, ER Dr. Mehrdod Ehteshami said illicitly manufactured fentanyl -- available on the drug market -- is actually not absorbed through the skin.
"Fentanyl is something that people do use illegally, actually, to overdose for recreational purposes. But this is not one of those things, and it's not one of those ways that you will overdose, by grabbing a shopping cart or going to your car," Ehteshami explained.
Simply put, 11Alive can say the claim is false. You cannot overdose on fentanyl by touching it, laced on a door handle.
"There is no scientific evidence that suggests that touching fentanyl will cause you to overdose," Ehteshami said.
In addition, authorities in the area said they haven't discovered any evidence to back up the claim as well.
The Gordon County Sheriff's Office issued the following statement:
We are aware of recent social media posts alleging that particular items have been "laced" with fentanyl. The incident in question was reported to have occurred in a neighboring jurisdiction; however, it was brought to our attention. At this time, our personnel have discovered no evidence of any items related to this report having been contaminated with fentanyl.
The Walton County Sheriff's Office told us to check Dalton Police about the claims, and issued the following statement:
The Sheriff’s Office is not investigating nor have we taken any reports regarding the situation you are injuring about.
The Dalton Police Department told 11Alive they had not taken any reports that come close to what is described in the posts.