COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus police tell 10TV that the two Ohio State University students who died due to a reported drug overdose took the the drug together inside their apartment along East Lane Avenue along with a third roommate who survived.
Police also said they've sent a powdery substance taken from the apartment to be tested at the police crime lab. The results will tell police what was in the substance.
"We've got a sample of the narcotics that was taken. It's being processed by our lab today to find out if was fentanyl or nitazene," said Commander Robert Strausbaugh of the Columbus Division of Police Drug Unit.
Nitazene is 20 times more powerful than fentanyl.
Toxicology reports on the victims isn't expected for four to six weeks.
"Our hope is through the phones, through the evidence, through the people who were there, our goal is to try to make sure that we can work backwards, and we can subsequently get enough evidence to prosecute drug dealers," Commander Strausbaugh said.
He said he wants kids to understand that taking pills that are not prescribed to them can be deadly.
"Don't take anything other than prescription drugs other than those from your physicians," Commander Strausbaugh said.
Police say they plan to contact Ohio State to see if the university is making the issue of contaminated drugs a priority during orientation.
Ohio State sent 10TV the following statement:
"We offer a variety of material at orientation, including safety, health and wellness information, and information about not accepting drinks from people you don’t know. While orientation is an important time, we also know that there is so much information shared throughout the two days that we can’t rely on orientation alone. Throughout our students’ time at Ohio State, we actively communicate a wide variety of education and prevention information, including information about contaminated drugs, Naloxone and fentanyl test strips. Communications include but are not limited to email, workshops, promotional materials and events in the residence halls and other spaces on campus, interactions with wellness coaches, and a host of other tactics. It’s simply not accurate to say that we only send information “after an incident happens.” Having said that, we are always looking for ways to improve our health and safety programming and most effectively reach all of our students."
According to Columbus Public Health, on the day of the two overdoses at Ohio State, there were 17 suspected overdoses. Thirteen people survived 4 were fatal in Franklin County.