MORGANTOWN, WV (WJER) - A case involving heroin-laced vape pens in the next state over has safety officials warning people about purchasing vaping products off the street. 

Morgantown, West Virginia police say two students were hospitalized recently after using heroin-laced vape pens. Communications Manager Andrew Stacy says the subsequent investigation led to the arrest of a 23-year-old Bolivar man for possession of and intent to sell a controlled substance. He says the man has not been linked to the overdoses, although police did find 300 “TKO” labeled vaping cartridges, highly-concentrated THC oil and other controlled substances at his address.

“[He] has not been identified as the source of one of the overdoses but did have more of the TKO products when officers recovered items from his local residence here. We have not tested or analyzed the products to confirm their contents but they’ll be tested at a later date at a lab,” he says.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell says the situation is a warning for people who don’t buy vaping products from retailers. 

“You have no idea what they put in it. When we were dealing with the heroin epidemic, we had many overdose deaths. A lot of those had fentanyl and carfentanyl in them that the person purchasing did not know was going to be there, and in this case you have the same thing. You have a vaping product that could have just about anything added to it,” he says.

Police say the man also had 25 pounds of marijuana and over 100 THC edible candies at his address in Morgantown.

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