After five fatal overdoses Monday night, Hartford police say there have already been 39 drug deaths in city this year

Five people died from drug overdoses across the city overnight Monday into Tuesday, police say, the most drug deaths in a single day Hartford has seen in recent history.

The rash of overdoses brings the city’s count to 39 drug deaths so far this year, 17 more than the city experienced at this time in 2018, according to Lt. Paul Cicero. Testing will confirm the cause of the five deaths that occurred between 7 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday, but Cicero said the suspected culprit is fentanyl, the powerful, synthetic drug that’s thought to be driving the national opioid epidemic.

The victims were all males ages 50 to 61, and found in the Asylum Hill, Clay Arsenal and Upper Albany neighborhoods, he said.

Nine more people in Hartford have been revived by naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug, since Saturday, Cicero said.

Also Monday night, police executed a search warrant on Huntington Street in Asylum Hill and found 1,000 bags of heroin, which tested positive for fentanyl. Investigators also found 70 grams of crack cocaine and are testing the drugs.

Fentanyl in Hartford is primarily found mixed with heroin, Cicero said, but it’s increasingly being mixed with cocaine and crack cocaine, and for the first time, Hartford police recently began turning up fentanyl in pill form.

Police have not found any connection among the drug deaths, some of which involved cocaine and crack cocaine, stimulants.

People who use heroin build up a tolerance to opioids, which leads some to seek out fentanyl, an incredibly strong opioid. But people who only use stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens lack that tolerance, increasing their risk of overdosing when they ingest drugs laced with fentanyl.

Last month, three people overdosed on Maple Avenue in the South End after each took a pill they thought was a recreational drug, Cicero said. Only one of them survived.

“That’s something we haven’t seen in memory,” Cicero said.”

On several occasions, overdose survivors have also told first responders that they only used marijuana before overdosing, Cicero said. Police have not confirmed any cases of marijuana laced with fentanyl.

“Designer drugs, prescription drugs, recreational drugs — that’s the message we really want to get across today, it’s not just heroin that has fentanyl presence in it. It’s other drugs too,” he said.

The development is alarming to public safety and health officials, who have been fairly successful in educating intravenous drug users about the dangers of fentanyl-laced heroin.

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition distribute large numbers of naloxone — the overdose-reversing drug — and fentanyl testing strips to people with opioid addiction, their family and friends, and members of the public who live and work in drug hot spots.

Now, fentanyl is a growing threat to other drug users who have not typically needed to arm themselves with naloxone.

“We are working closely with our partners at the state to ensure we have enough to respond appropriately, and we are working with our local nonprofit partners to distribute fentanyl testing strips,” Mayor Luke Bronin said. “But beyond that, we ask everyone to help spread the word that any illegal drug may be contaminated with fentanyl, which is a poison.”

The combination of fentanyl and cocaine in particular was present in 270 Connecticut drug deaths last year, up from 220 cases in 2017, and just two in 2012, according to state statistics. Fentanyl was present in 75 percent of all the state’s fatal drug overdoses in 2018, an increase from 65 percent the year before.

Police are urging all members of the public involved in an overdose to turn over any drug packaging and evidence to investigators so they can help track the presence of fentanyl and prevent additional overdoses. Cicero said no one will be arrested after calling 911 to report an overdose.

“In the event of an overdose, drug paraphernalia can be crucial in our investigation of the source of these drugs, and so we don’t want people to dispose of that evidence because they’re concerned about being arrested,” said acting-Police Chief Jason Thody.

Hartford’s spike in drug deaths comes after national health officials reported last year that opioid deaths were starting to plateau. Connecticut’s Department of Health likewise said in February that emergency room visits for opioid overdoses had stabilized.

In 2018, 1,017 people died of drug overdoses in Connecticut, 21 fewer than 2017.

That isn’t the full story, says Mark Jenkins, who runs the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition. Increased availability of naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug, flattened the trend in deadly overdoses even as the number of total overdoses continued to climb.

“We’re nowhere near being out of the water,” said Jenkins. “Our public health response has still not met the need to address this as we have to.”

Fentanyl is a painkiller like morphine, but 50 percent to 100 percent more potent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Police also see the drug mixed with heroin and crack cocaine, Cicero said.

Detectives investigate the deaths the way they would a homicide, he said. They talk to survivors, examine the drugs’ packaging and try to figure out where the deadly substance came from.

Cicero said the five people who died recently are: a 61-year-old man who died Monday night at 252 Vine St.; two men, ages 59 and 56, who died at 166 Collins St. Monday night; a 50-year-old man who died at 175 Sigourney St. Tuesday and a man who died at 34 Kent St. Tuesday.

Liany E. Arroyo, Hartford’s health director, says those who need naloxone and fentanyl testing trips should visit the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition and other local partners of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which has a mobile crisis team in Hartford.

“Every overdose death is a tragedy,” said state Department of Public Health Commissioner Renée D. Coleman-Mitchell. “Our goal is to assist local health and first responders to save as many lives as we can.”

Nancy Navarretta, the deputy commissioner of DMHAS, added that most pharmacies can prescribe naloxone, meaning individuals need not find a doctor, schedule an appointment and obtain a prescription to access the life-saving drug.

“Even small amounts of fentanyl can be deadly,” she said. “Having naloxone on hand can be a matter of life and death.”

People living with addiction can call 1-800-563-4086 or visit liveloud.org to access treatment services.

“Recovery is possible,” Navarretta said.

An earlier version of this article stated that, according to DMHAS deputy commissioner Nancy Navarretta, most doctors can prescribe naloxone. While this is true, Navarretta said that most pharmacies can prescribe naloxone.

Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.