Sheriff Warns Against Picking Up Folded Up Cash In The Street. Here’s Why

A Sheriff’s office in Tennessee is warning the public against picking up folded dollar bills because of possible fentanyl and methamphetamine exposure.

The Giles County Sheriff’s Department saw two incidents where a folded dollar bill was discovered on a local gas station floor that had a white powder inside that was later found to be fentanyl and methamphetamine, the office announced Thursday.

“This is very dangerous issue! Please share and educate your children to not pick up any folded money they may find in or around businesses, playgrounds etc., without using great caution and even alerting a parent or guardian,” the announcement said.

The Sheriff’s office warned that the amount of fentanyl smaller than a penny could “kill anyone that it comes into contact with.”

Other localities have warned about counterfeit pills being laced with fentanyl.

The Los Angeles Unified School District warned about to fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills after three high school students overdosed, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We encourage you to have discussions with your child about making healthy choices and about the dangers of ingesting any illicit drugs especially as we enter into end-of-year celebrations and the summer,” a letter from the school district to parents stated.

In Kansas City, Kansas, authorities seized 15,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl in two seizures, according to KION.

The Will County, Illinois, coroner’s office warned about heroin laced with fentanyl after dealing with 10 local deaths in 24 hours, WGN9 reported Thursday.

A lethal dose of fentanyl is only 2 milligrams, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The illegal fentanyl that arrives in the U.S. is largely made in drug labs and smuggled through Mexico, according to the DEA.

At least 105,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2021, according to provisional data the National Center for Health Statistics released in April. Experts attribute the high number of overdoses to fentanyl.

The Giles County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.