Getting fentanyl off our streets

Supervisor Jim Desmond

5th District

There’s a crisis in our country. Fentanyl is impacting our streets and tragically killing many of our kids. In late August, two San Diego teenagers overdosed on clandestine prescriptions laced with fentanyl they purchased via social media. Sadly, one of those teenagers passed away. This is just one of the many stories happening across San Diego County. Through mid-July, there were 413 fentanyl deaths, compared to 177 in 2020.

There has been a wave of deaths among teens and young adults who bought what they believed to be a prescription pill – like Adderall or Xanax – that turned out to be a counterfeit pill containing a deadly dose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid a hundred times more potent than morphine. Many of these pills are being traded openly via social media and have been linked to the sale of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills that have caused the deaths of teens and young adults.

With this problem continuing to grow, it’s time for the County of San Diego to step up and address this problem. At our last Board meeting, I led the action to direct our chief administrative officer to work with the educational community, parent-teacher associations and student representatives to develop a substance use prevention campaign that focuses on fentanyl awareness.

Many kids and young adults are unaware of the deadly effects fentanyl can have on their life and I believe this campaign will save lives. I have always felt that if people knew better, they would do better, and I want to make sure these young people know about fentanyl and how it’s a threat to their life.