A shocking twist to a strange saga appears to exonerate a man accused of lacing his marijuana with the highly addicting opiate, fentanyl, as an FDLE report concludes there was actually no trace of the pain-killing substance in the cannabis.
The man in question, 19-year-old Lucas Rosier, was arrested during a traffic stop back in September. He was found with marijuana, which was then tested during a series of roadside exams.
But according to the latest report, which was first obtained by Jacksonville’s local Fox affiliate, Action News Jax, the test came back positive only cannabis and not fentanyl as previously believed.
The results of the latest tests dispute the Clay County Police Department’s original findings. In fact, the battery of roadside tests concluded the exact opposite of what was determined by the far more accurate FDLE screening.
“The results came back negative for marijuana all three times,” the original report said. “The green leafy like substance tested positive for laced fentanyl all three times using an agency issued field test kit.”
Rosier admitted to Action News Jax that the last few months have been difficult on him following the police’s initial findings.
“I’ve had people send me death threats saying you’re a horrible human being, that I shouldn’t even be alive.” Rosier said.
One of Rosier’s lawyers, Beth Sammons, says the roadside kits used in these drug stops are often unreliable.
“We have no idea how the Sheriff’s Office is storing these kits, we have no idea how old these kits are.” Sammons said.
Rosier’s case will now go through misdemeanor diversion and subsequently dropped. The CCPD said they will update their Facebook post about the arrest—likely, as an effort to decrease the backlash against Rosier—once they receive the tangible results of the FDLE lab test.
The Clay County Police Department also noted they will continue to evaluate their drug kits, but as of right now, they will still be used.
Fentanyl in Weed
There have been some other reported cases of marijuana-laced fentanyl, although, these cases are few and far in between.
Back in April, there were three different incidents involving fentanyl-laced marijuana in upstate New York. The first, police found three people unconscious in a car in a parking lot after they ingested the tainted cannabis. Another incident in Sullivan County had officers confiscating seven grams of weed that was found to have traces of fentanyl in it. A third incident, this time in Knox, New York, saw paramedics revive three more people who had overdosed on the polydrug.
“This is the stuff that is causing the majority of the overdoses,” Sullivan County Sheriff Michael Schiff said at the time. “They are mixing fentanyl with heroin, cocaine and now marijuana.”
A fentanyl-laced marijuana epidemic also broke out in Tennessee back in 2017. At the time, Tennessee DA Matthew Stowe expressed his concerns about the drug popping up exponentially in confiscated marijuana.
“It’s absolutely being seen in Tennessee,” he told local sources. “It’s being seen in West Tennessee, it’s coming in in vast, vast quantities.”
