Drug dealers are always looking for ways to make more money, which means they are nearly constantly experimenting with ways to change existing drugs to increase the high a user feels or to make their drug stretch further, maximizing the dealer’s profit.

Such is the case with the recent trend of mixing heroin with fentanyl, a mixture which has led to more than 20 deaths in Pennsylvania and which has cropped up in Buffalo, according to Michelle Spahn, resident agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Buffalo office. Fentanyl, in particular, is a highly potent synthetic opioid, typically prescribed as an oral tablet or patch, and intended to manage severe pain. According to the DEA, it is 100 times more potent than morphine.

We’re sure police agencies and health organizations trade such information regularly as they deal with drugs. That information doesn’t always make its way to the public.

That is one reason county residents should look forward to the county’s drug forum, which begins at 9:30 a.m. March 12 at the Chautauqua Suites, 215 W. Lake Road, Mayville. The forum will be broken into morning and afternoon sessions, with the former including a panel of experts to discuss the current state of the opiate epidemic, and the latter including facilitated breakout sessions on related topics from family response to legislative action. Work that begins during the forum is expected to become a plan or series of plans for the county to begin dealing with aspects of the drug problem it can control.

We echo County Executive Vince Horrigan, who recently said it is important to understand all aspects of the county’s drug problem – its scope, options, where the most effective treatment centers are now and what the county is doing. Left unsaid is figuring out what the county should do in the future.

The March 12 forum is a good place to start.