Desmond is a San Diego County Supervisor for District 5 and lives in Oceanside.
If something has the potential to kill 1.4 billion people, we would call it a weapon, a very large weapon. The name of the weapon is fentanyl. It is killing San Diegans at an alarming rate and is a massive public health crisis.
Last year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Regional Office in San Diego reported a seizure of 6,354 pounds of fentanyl. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that it only takes 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill an adult. The amount of fentanyl seized last year is enough to kill 1.4 billion people, on the low end. That is more than four times the population of our entire country.
For the first time ever, in 2021, drug overdose deaths exceeded 100,000 people in the United States, more than all deaths from vehicles and weapons combined. More than 75,000 of those deaths were caused by opioids mixed with fentanyl. Fentanyl is now the No. 1 killer of American adults ages 18 to 45.
In 2018, 92 people in San Diego County died from fentanyl. Last year, 2021, more than 800 San Diegans lost their lives to fentanyl, including children under the age of 18. The stark reality is that the death toll will continue to rise unless swift action is taken at the state, state and federal levels.
So what can you do? It starts with education. Parents, you need to talk to your children and teenagers. A few weeks ago, I co-hosted a virtual town hall with District Attorney Summer Stephan titled “What Every Parent Should Know About Fentanyl.” We invited experts from the field, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, emergency physician Dr. Roneet Lev, U.S. Attorney General’s Outreach Director Cindy Cipriani, and James Fontaine, Chief of the Attorney General’s Office for Major Narcotics. They all shared a sobering message: One pill can kill.
We have to change our mindset. These deaths are not overdoses; these are poisonings. According to the DEA reports presented by Gordon, most illicit fentanyl comes from Southeast Asia and China. Some fentanyl pills are illegally manufactured in Mexico and smuggled across the border.
Here are a few things parents should know when it comes to fentanyl. The illegal pills are made to look like legitimate drugs like OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax, and Adderall. These pills are often sold illegally through social media. They are marketed on Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat, often by people who know your kids. Your son or daughter can even trust them. In many cases, dealers have no idea that the substance they supply contains fentanyl. Teens can no longer take the risk of trying drugs without consequences. A recent DEA study found that 4 out of 10 counterfeit pills contained a fatal dose of fentanyl. If you buy pills on social media, chances are they are counterfeit pills and you are playing Russian roulette with your life.
During our Zoom town hall, Connor White’s parents talked about their son. Connor was a standout athlete and a 4.0 GPA student at Cathedral Catholic High School. Last year, during finals week, Connor took a Percocet given to him by a “friend” laced with fentanyl, and died tragically. He never woke up and it was heartbreaking to hear their story.
The tragedies of fentanyl overdose are preventable, but it starts with talking to and educating children and teens about the dangers. With the arrival of summer and teenagers having more free time, it is imperative that we get the message out that they should never take a pill that is not prescribed for them.
Last year, the district attorney and I launched an initiative to direct the county to work with the education community and other stakeholders to develop a substance use prevention campaign targeting illegal fentanyl awareness. While it’s a start, I know it’s not enough.
At our upcoming Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, I, along with Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, will ask my colleagues and the county public health officer to declare fentanyl a public health emergency. This will continue to raise awareness among San Diego County residents. We are also asking for funding for enforcement efforts, harm reduction, and treatment efforts.
It’s time we face the reality of fentanyl in our communities. It is killing our youth and causing extreme damage to our province. We need to address this directly by talking to our children and understanding the risks of illegal fentanyl. It’s poison, a weapon, and we have to start treating it like a weapon.