NEW ULM– New Ulm Police Chief Dan Borchert educated seniors on drugs and the new Marijuana legislation at the CAST senior center on Friday.
Borchert introduced the topic by showing the attendees a cereal bar that looked like the Fruity Pebble brand. The bar contained THC, and Borchert said this is an intentional use of branding meant to appeal to kids and teens. He used this to illustrate a major concern of marijuana being marketed to young demographics.
Several people raised concerns with the upcoming marijuana laws, believing that legalization is the wrong decision. Attendee Mary Hoffman shared her opinion on the issue.
“I think it stinks,” she said. “I think it’s harmful. It’s going to harm our children. It’s going to harm people’s brains. It certainly isn’t healthy.”
With these concerns and others in mind, Borchert wanted to remind those in attendance not to overreact or panic due to the legalization of marijuana. He likened it to the reaction to prohibition and alcohol.
“Back in that timeframe, it seemed like the sky was gonna fall,” Borchert said. “I’m not minimizing if someone gets hurt from something there’s gonna be consequences. Laws have consequences. But the sky’s not gonna fall. It’s always been a challenge as far as dealing with marijuana, law enforcement is very, very used to it.”
Borchert also covered one of the rising drugs across the nation in Fentanyl. Doses as much as two grams are enough to kill someone, and other drugs are being mixed with Fentanyl to increase potency and cause addiction.
“I’ve asked specifically, roughly, if you’re finding an illegal substance what’s the likelihood it’s got fentanyl in it? It’s over 90%,” Borchert said “Now you have drug dealers, or you have individuals mixing this. It’s dangerous, people are getting killed doing that. And sometimes when they’re mixing it, they’re getting it wrong. They’re getting the mixtures wrong, and realistically, it becomes too powerful.”
Fentanyl can even affect those who had no idea they had ingested or came into contact with it. Borchert recounted the story of a cop-in-training who overdosed after coming into contact with the drug.
“A police officer was on field training. That’s where we first learn how to become a police officer. We’re uniform, but we’re assigned a partner. We had it where this individual in another state got exposed to fentanyl. And they just saw him go down and they had Narcan and they saved his life but they had to hit him with Narcan five times and he survived.”
Narcan is a drug used via nasal spray to immediately treat those who are suffering from an opioid overdose. Borchert discussed how it is being implemented locally in police stations and schools, as well as over-the-counter for anyone to use in an emergency situation. He passed around an example package to show what it looks like.
“Is this something we should have everywhere? Right next to the AED’s and right next to fire extinguishers in public buildings? I say yes. I think it’s a good idea. One of my co workers kids started college and it is actually in the college dorm. And it says opioid overdose reversal box. That’s something that we might see in buildings because you’re gonna have to have some type of instructions almost like an ad.”
“I think it stinks,” Hoffman said when asked her opinion on marijuana legalization. “I think it’s harmful. It’s going to harm our children. It’s going to harm people’s brains. It’s not it certainly isn’t healthy.”
Borchert said he is open to giving more in-depth talks in the future if the community is interested. For more information Borchert can be contacted at 507-354-3295 or through his email at district1@co.brown.mn.us.
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