Staten Island's heroin problem has taken an ominous turn as officials say a synthetic drug being mixed with it is making the deadly drug even more lethal. Borough Reporter Amanda Farinacci has more on what's being done to address the problem.

Jason Gomez has been sober for just over three months.

The drug that sent him to a one year rehab facility, he says was heroin laced with fentanyl.

"As an addict I want the most powerful drug out there," Gomez said. "I want what's killing people because I feel it'll never happen to me."

Gomez is lucky — he's used heroin laced with the powerful pain reliever that's commonly given to suffering cancer patients — and lived to tell about it.

Many others haven't been so fortunate.

"It's 100 times more powerful than morphine, and 50 times more powerful than heroin," says addiction counselor Carl Feren."You know, add that in with heroin and it's a very dangerous mix."

So far this year, there were 72 suspected overdose deaths on Staten Island and last month, there were 10 in just 9 days.

Law enforcement sources widely believe fentanyl played a role. It gives addicts an almost immediate, stronger high and that increased potency also makes it more deadly.

Officials say fentanyl is so strong — it requires two or three doses of the overdose preventing medication naloxone, and the lifesaving drug must be given within two minutes after a patient becomes unresponsive.

Congressman Dan Donovan is hoping to move quickly on a bill he says will help the problem.

With input from drug enforcement officials and addiction counselors, his legislation will add five years prison time to a suspect caught cutting drugs with fentanyl.

It will also make it illegal to mail the so-called "pill presses" used to make the counterfeit prescription painkillers to unauthorized users:

"It has to be addressed because scores of people are dying from it," Donovan said.

Addiction counselors caution there's no quick fix for the borough's heroin and prescription drug problem, and worry dealers will find a way to replace fentanyl with something else.

Still, they say, Donovan's bill is a step in the right direction.