Police in Butler County acknowledge they have a dilemma on their hands.

The more they speak of the dangers of a potent batch of heroin making its rounds, the more attractive it becomes.

“In our interviews of users, they tell us they're actively seeking out the product,” state police Sgt. Patrick Sarnese said this morning.

The “product” is “Theraflu,” the street name for a heroin-fentanyl mixture, and police have learned that it's a “must-have” for many addicts.

Junkies are swapping information about where the latest overdose victim got his or her dope. They want a taste, too.

“Our information is that the dealers have raised the price of it due to the demand,” Sarnese said.

Demand for the toxic heroin is one of the factors complicating law enforcement efforts to curb, if not eradicate, a street drug that is claiming lives and shattering families.

Police are working around the clock to track down the suppliers and distributors.

“It's our top priority,” Sarnese said.

In Butler County, three people have died of apparent overdoses after injecting what police believe was “Theraflu.”

The most recent fatality, authorities said, was Sunday when 21-year-old Brittany Hays died in her Worth Township mobile home.

State police said family members found Hays unresponsive in the bathroom. On the floor were four bags of suspected heroin stamped with the name “Theraflu,” and other drug paraphernalia.

Butler County Coroner William Young III pronounced her dead at the scene.

Police described Hays as “an active heroin user.”

Investigators would not say it they have any idea where the woman got the drugs but Sarnese acknowledged they are chasing leads.

Officials have already identified two of the other suspected “Theraflu” fatalities as 30-year-old Jayson K. Berardini who overdosed in his Penn Township home last week. And 41-year-old Richard Coward died Jan. 25 at his Middlesex Township mobile home.

Authorities note the cause of death in each of the cases cannot be definitive until toxicology tests are returned from a laboratory, which can take a month or longer.

Butler County Coroner's Office, following in the footsteps of larger counties dealing with the same suspected killer dope, is also dealing with the sad trend.

“We are bombarded with drug deaths,” Young said Monday.

Merely five weeks into the year, and already eight county residents have died of suspected drug overdoses. Four of those, Young said, are suspected to involve heroin.

“The public needs to be warned: stay off the heroin,” he said. “Anytime you are doing heroin, it's like you are playing with a revolver ... Russian roulette.”

Officials have said the same tainted heroin batch that has been tied to around two dozen overdose deaths in Western Pennsylvania since mid-January.

Thus far, the suspected deadly heroin mix has been identified in Butler, Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Lawrence and Beaver counties.

The heroin is mixed with the powerful narcotic painkiller fentanyl, which can be 10 to 100 times more potent than morphine, officials said. It is believed to be distributed in bags stamped with the words “Theraflu,” “Bud Ice,” and “Income Tax.”

“This is a big problem,” said Young who noted that in all of 2013, nine of the county's 30-drug related deaths were tied to heroin.

Young said of the other three overdoses in Butler County, in only one has the drug been identified conclusively. That was a methadone overdose.

Young said it's important to get the word out that the “Theraflu” heroin is dangerous, but notes that sometimes in an addict's world, that can have an opposite effect.

“A lot of people might be hunting that brand because they believe it is stronger, and therefore it will make their supply last longer,” Young said.

That's the dilemma for police, Sarnese conceded.

“It's a problem for us because they're taking a huge risk by using this particular brand,” he said. “They know the consequences but we want everyone to know to steer clear of it.”

Meantime, county Detective Tim Fennell, who heads the Butler County Drug Task Force, said local law enforcement agencies are working double time to share information among agencies and try to get “Theraflu” off the streets.

“It's well known that this is lethal,” Fennell said. “It's astounding that it's still being used, and people are still dying.”