New Jersey authorities recently identified several different brands of heroin which resulted in a number of heroin overdose deaths.

According to police, drug dealers in New Jersey are selling wax folds which have been stamped with “Taliban,” “Power Hour,” and “Strike Dead.” These brands of heroin are significantly stronger than the typical heroin sold on NJ streets. Police believe that the illegal drugs have caused at least six recent heroin overdose deaths.

NJ authorities were able to identify the dangerous strains of heroin with the help of the Drug Monitoring Initiative (DMI). The DMI is a multi-agency program which includes departments within New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The agencies which are a part of the DMI are able to share information about dangerous drug mixtures and then disseminate information about the drugs. New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jay Hoffman recently praised the DMI as “a common sense, life-saving program that sounds the alarm when we identify lethal drug brands being peddled on our streets.”

Heroin and opioid abuse has caused the deaths of more than 5,000 people in New Jersey in the last decade. Additionally, the number of heroin-related deaths in the Garden State has dramatically risen from just 287 reported heroin deaths in 2010 all the way up to 741 heroin deaths in 2013.

In response to the rise in the number of heroin-related deaths, New Jersey law enforcement has been administering Narcan when necessary. Narcan, also known as naloxone, is an opioid antidote which helps emergency responders save the livers of heroin overdose victims. Unfortunately, the live-saving drug does not always work when trying to combat overdoses caused by the dangerous strains of heroin. A New Jersey State Police sergeant recently observed that if heroin users overdose “when first responders arrive, the Narcan is not going to save them.”

Making matters worse is the fact that many heroin users in New Jersey simply do not realize that these more potent mixtures can cause overdose deaths. That’s why NJ authorities are hoping that the recent warning issues about these potentially lethal brands of heroin will reach potential drug users in time.

For additional information, check out the NJ.com article entitled “Tainted Heroin Kills 6, N.J. Issues Warning About 3 Deadly Brands.”