BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — Boulder police officers administered Narcan to a man following an overdose Friday night, likely saving the man’s life. 

It comes just days after public health officials issued a warning about a batch of fentanyl-laced drugs in Boulder, Longmont, and Broomfield, although it’s unclear if fentanyl was involved in this overdose.

“You really don’t hesitate or think, you go into action, and help,” says officer Scott Byars.

Byars and officer Andrea Tuck helped administer the Narcan, something they say they’re doing more often than ever.

“Unfortunately it is something that is rising, and it’s growing,” says Tuck. “All we can do is to continue to educate, and hope we see a slow in it.”

Boulder County Public Health is monitoring the situation closely, so far reporting the fentanyl-laced drugs to be Xanax and Oxycodone 30 mg pills, believed to be imported from Mexico. Fentanyl, in its intended form, is a powerful drug often used in surgery. 

“It’s one of the stronger opioids that there is,” says Rob Valuck. “It’s a hundred times more potent than morphine.”

Valuck is the Director of the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. 

He says in recent years, illicit drug makers have been mixing small amounts of fentanyl into counterfeit tablets, to provide a cheap, powerful punch. 

“It could be a teeny bit, that you wouldn’t notice, or it might be enough to kill you,” he says. “Each tablet is like Russian roulette. Each time someone takes one of those tablets, if you did not get it at a pharmacy, it’s Russian roulette.”

Valuck says people using opioids should never do so alone, and should have Narcan or Naloxone nearby in case of an overdose. 

He says people using illicit drugs can also use fentanyl test strips, to see if their drug is tainted. Find more information on obtaining those strips, or addiction resources.