# Fentanyl laced letters sent to election offices. November 2023 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938 "2023-11-10T14:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/21 "2023-11-10T21:06:35Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > My intuitive order of probability: > Solitary left-nut > Solitary right-nut (posing as left nut) > Small group of right nuts (posing) > Small group of left nuts > Small public right-wing organization (still nutty) Mine is: right-nut, solitary or group, trying to sound like a left-nut and failing. It’s the right-nuts who have been objecting to “ballot drops”; not the left. And anybody who thinks the left is “in charge now” must be on the right. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/22 "2023-11-10T22:23:07Z")
I’ve been convinced. The killer blow was seeing the note — festooned with rainbows and satanic symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/23 "2023-11-10T22:52:01Z")
This is wayyyyyyyyyy too obvious a right-winger posing as a leftist. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/24 "2023-11-11T03:04:00Z")
Club Med sucks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/25 "2023-11-11T03:05:50Z")
So it’s a leftie doing his impression of what a rightie thinks a crazy leftie looks like. A double false flag. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/26 "2023-11-11T03:31:20Z")
MSNBC published a photo of the envelope with the return address. It was from “Mike Hock.” Hurr-de-hurrr. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/27 "2023-11-11T09:33:22Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > in their unending war to end elections and usher in an apocalyptic vision of a homosexual America where apple pie is banned forever. Oh, Tamerlane, you are sadly behind the times. Everyone knows that the leftist radicals have moved on to advocating a _transgender_ America. Or maybe a _genderfluid_ one. Plain homosexual is so old hat – get with the times, man! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/28 "2023-11-11T10:36:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If it said something like “end kkkorporate politics” or “your colonial government is illegal on native land” or “divest now,” I’d be a little more willing to believe it was a left nut. But as it is? Nah. Yeah, I’ll be shocked if it isn’t a right winger. No lefty thinks the left is in charge. And no lefty has objected to ballot drop boxes. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Lets see how long it takes before the authorities track it back to the post office or mailbox where it was dropped and we get surveillance I dearly hope so. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/29 "2023-11-11T10:53:50Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Don’t you have to snort it or shoot it up or something? Pretty much. There have been urban legends going for some time about fentanyl being fatal in small doses just by touching it. Even law enforcement officials in some places spread such rumors out of ignorance, hence lending weight to the legends. > **[Police Chief Warns of Fentanyl Overdose Risk from Residue on Shopping Carts?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fentanyl-overdose-residue-shopping-cart/)** > > The likelihood of such a scenario is scientifically dubious and the law enforcement agency that made the claim has walked it back. > **[Are Folded, Fentanyl-Laced Dollar Bills a Widespread Safety Threat?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/folded-fentanyl-laced-dollar-bills/)** > > A warning issued by a sheriff's office in Tennessee prompted scary headlines in several other states. > Medical experts say simply picking up and touching such drugs is not harmful. Rather, it’s the ingesting and snorting of them that could do harm. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/30 "2023-11-11T12:22:23Z")
So… Poll workers would be wise to wash their hands between handling the ballots and eating, or picking their nose. That’s probably good advise without any fentanyl risk. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/31 "2023-11-11T13:14:50Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, I’ll be shocked if it isn’t a right winger. No lefty thinks the left is in charge. And no lefty has objected to ballot drop boxes. I have (had) a righty friend who was blaming all the chaos and division in our country on Democrats. I had to point out it’s not Democrats or liberals who are threatening election officials, threatening school board members, plotting to kidnap and execute a governor, invading members of congress’ homes and hitting their spouse with a hammer, invading and desecrating the Capitol, holding racist marches with tiki torches, loading themselves into a Uhaul to disrupt a parade, shooting up a grocery store beacuse people of other races shop there, threatening violence to congressional representatives of their own party who wont vote for their nutty candidate for Speaker, and now (it appears) weakly sending drugs to election officials, and on and on… It’s like the right wing information/misinformation bubble doesn’t even publish or report on this stuff. I guess they’re too busy filling people’s heads with “news” about Hunter Biden’s laptop. SMH ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/32 "2023-11-11T13:30:48Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > festooned with rainbows and satanic symbols Would’ve been better in either Comic Sans, or Papyrus. oR bOtH ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/33 "2023-11-11T17:50:24Z")
According to the Oregonian, the letter to the auditor’s office in Pierce County (Tacoma) in Washington state was postmarked in Portland. There was a similar fentanyl-laced letter sent in August to the King County (Seattle) Elections Office and also postmarked in Portland. Here’s some cites, but you may need to log in to read them (I don’t think they’re paywalled): > **[‘Trace amounts’ of fentanyl found on threatening Portland letter sent to...](https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/08/trace-amounts-of-fentanyl-found-on-threatening-portland-letter-sent-to-seattle-elections-office.html)** > > The employees who opened the letter, which was postmarked from Portland, did not come in contact with the drug, and the election office continued to count primary ballots as normal on Wednesday. > **[Election offices in Oregon, Washington and Georgia received suspicious mail;...](https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/11/election-offices-in-oregon-washington-and-georgia-sent-suspicious-mail-some-letters-contained-fentanyl.html)** > > Authorities in Lane County were investigating a piece of mail that arrived at the Eugene election office Wednesday. The Pierce County auditor’s office in Tacoma released images of the letter it received, showing it had been postmarked in Portland. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/34 "2023-11-11T20:11:45Z")
Just last July at the White House (WH) there was the discovery of cocaine left in a “work area of the west wing “. Still a whodunit. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/35 "2023-11-11T20:16:15Z")
I am curious (not trying to minimize the seriousness): How dangerous is fentanyl in a letter? I understand the lethal dose is very, very small but can it be absorbed through the skin? Do you have to inhale it or eat it (e.g. you lick a finger that has touched the stuff) or does it have to be injected? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/36 "2023-11-11T20:29:20Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > How dangerous is fentanyl in a letter? I understand the lethal does is very, very small but can it be absorbed through the skin? Do you have to inhale it or eat it (e.g. you lick a finger that has touched the stuff) or does it have to be injected? Just touching the skin will not cause it to be absorbed into the body, unless you happened to have an open sore at that spot. Inhaling it or consuming it are the main ways people use it. Injecting it is unnecessary. So the letters by themselves are essentially not dangerous unless someone gets hungry and eats one of them. If someone touches the letter with a wet finger and then licks that finger, they may get a small dose. I don’t think that would be enough to be fatal, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/37 "2023-11-11T20:33:56Z")
‘Trace amounts’ of Fentanyl could easily be residue from a Fentanyl user, not an intentional attempt to poison anyone. My wife works in harm reduction, and she says Fentanyl has contaminated a whole lot of stuff. Most street drugs now contain traces of Fentanyl. Just like for a long time you could test a random dollar bill and find ‘trace amounts’ of cocaine. No, you can’t get poisoned by contact. But the myth probably persists because the LD50 of the latest variants of Fentanyl are insanely small, so if you got a nearly invisible amount on your finger and licked it, it could give you a pretty strong Fentanyl hit. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/38 "2023-11-11T20:40:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > ‘Trace amounts’ of Fentanyl could easily be residue from a Fentanyl user, not an intentional attempt to poison anyone. That is likely, but there has to be a reason they tested these particular letters for fentanyl. I don’t think they’d test all incoming letters, so there was probably some powder in the letters that would provoke the testing. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/39 "2023-11-11T20:44:34Z")
Yes, why did they even test the letters? Why do they know there’s fentanyl on them? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938/40 "2023-11-11T20:51:31Z")
Remember the anthrax letters of several years ago? Those had a powder in them. It made everyone leery of powder in letters, so whenever a public agency gets one, it’s tested. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fentanyl-laced-letters-sent-to-election-offices-november-2023/992938.md?page=3)