Despite his gaunt frame and sunken eyes, he walks with a distinct swagger down Tuscarawas Street. At the intersection with Cherry Street, he turns and faces the road with a blank stare; the “ink” on his neck and hands suggest he’s spent time in prison.

There are small, faint bruises on one bare arm.

His eyes dart back and forth; he is clearly agitated as he heads toward a McDonald’s parking lot on Tuscarawas, the same McDonald’s where police tried to revive Christopher J. Burris with two doses of Narcan in September. It took two more doses from paramedics to save him.

Burris overdosed on the potent opioid carfentanil, which is 100 times more powerful than heroin and is used to sedate elephants. Eventually he was sentenced by a Stark County judge to the maximum 12 months in prison for drug possession.

The passenger in his car, also passed out, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony; he awaits sentencing.

Read the full piece HERE.