Introduction
NBC 7 decided to dig deeper, beyond the headlines and statistics, to understand how and why this fentanyl emergency has unfolded in San Diego County, as well as the impact the crisis is having in our communities and finally, what work needs to be done to fight what’s being called an epidemic.
During our journey, we spoke with parents who’ve lost their kids, overdose survivors, academic and medical professionals, representatives of government agencies and activists. Their stories from the front lines of this battle are raw, honest and sometimes frightening. Through telling these stories, we hope San Diegans can better understand the magnitude of the fentanyl crisis and what we need to do together to protect our families from that next poison pill. (source)
Accompanying Information: [PDFs]
Social Media Drug Trafficking Threat
Fake Pills Fact Sheet
Fentanyl Fact Sheet
Emoji Drug Codes
One Pill Can Kill Initiative: Key Results
What Every Parent & Caregiver Needs to Know About Fake Pills
Quotes
“In 2021 alone, the DEA seized 20.4 million fake pills. In the first nine months of 2022, U.S Customs & Border Protection law enforcement agencies in San Diego and Imperial counties seized 5091 pounds of fentanyl.”
“Some of the methods that these drug trafficking organizations employ are pretty detailed. They’ll conceal the narcotics in certain man-made compartments, or non-factory compartments. We’ve seen through the seats, the gas tanks, the dashboard … They would put it on a two-year-old’s diaper and they’ll line the padding of the diapear with methamphetamine … there’s no means to which these organizations will not go through.”
“More than half of the pills being seized are potentially deadly. The DEA analyzes these pills for fentanyl levels and has found that 6 out of 10 pills contain what could be a lethal dose.”
“On average fentanyl kills two people in San Diego County every single day and across the U.S one person dies from a fentanyl related overdose every 8 minutes and 57 seconds.”
“The first time I tried opiates, I was immediately hooked. My thought was ‘I have to do this every day’ and I did … I had the best intentions to change and I just couldn’t do it … I would already feel a therapeutic effect just by having it in my pocket, it’s not even in my system yet.”
NATHAM SMIDDY aka “NARCAN NATE”
“Every week, Nate sets up in this parking lot, along with a non-profit that offers hot showers, a meal, and other resources to folks on the streets. Nate hands out care packages that always have Narcan and he makes sure people know how to use it. Nate also includes testing strips that can detect drugs laced with fentanyl.”
“We have drug dealers that have reviews, we have drug dealers that have tracking numbers for the product that they ship, and we have drug dealers that are multi-marketing – they have an Instagram account, they have a Snapchat account, they have a Telegram account et cetera. They’re seeling all over the place so the odds that your child is going to be exposed to this content can be relatively high.”
“There are three medications that are FDA approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder that have been shown to be very effective at reducing folks from using, as well as reducing all the negative impacts in their life when they’re using: (1) Methadone, (2) Buprenorphine, and (3) Naltrexone.”
“When we’re creating programs to help treat people with a functional use disorder opioid use disorder, we we want to have what’s called Low Barrier Care [PDF]. We want patients to be able to be connected to a provider … that has very good understanding of how to treat addiction, and we want them to be able to get medications right away. We know that these medications save lives so we don’t want to delay treatment.“
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Continue Learning
Hey there! I hope you found this resource useful! If you’re interested in learning more about some of the topics discussed, you can browse through these additional resources. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need help with anything else.
Fentanyl
- Detecting Fentanyl. Saving Lives.
- Fentanyl: America’s Grim New Opioid Addiction
- Fentanyl: One Pill Kills
- Fentanyl Accounts for A Majority of Fatal Overdoses. But ERs Aren’t Testing For It
- Fentanyl Facts (CDC)
- Fentanyl Plus Stimulants Drives ‘Fourth Wave’ of Overdose Epidemic in The U.S.
- How The Fentanyl Crisis’ Fourth Wave Has Hit Every Corner of the US
- Inside a Free Fentanyl and Heroin Clinic
- Responding to a Fentanyl Overdose: What California First Responders Need to Know
- Straight Talk: Street Fentanyl [PDF]
- The Impact of The Deadly Fentanyl ‘Plague’ On One American City
- Why Fentanyl Is So Incredibly Dangerous
Medication-Assisted Treatment
- 2-Minute Neuroscience: Methadone
- Buprenorphine: Quick Start Guide [PDF]
- Buprenorphine for Chronic Pain: A Safer Alternative to Traditional Opioids
- How Are Methadone and Suboxone Different?
- How Do You Decide Between Methadone and Suboxone?
- How Opioid Treatment Medications Work on Your Brain
- Medication for Opioid Use Disorder
- Methadone Maintenance Therapy Versus No Opioid Replacement Therapy for Opioid Dependence
- Mothers & Methadone
- Opioid Agonist Therapy
- Opioid Substitution Therapy—Time to Replace The Term
- Part 1: Introducing Opioid Substitution Treatment (UK)
- What is Methadone? Methadone vs Suboxone for Treating Opioid Addiction
- What Is Opioid Pharmacotherapy?
Opioid Crisis
- Beyond Supply: How We Must Tackle the Opioid Epidemic [PDF]
- California’s Opioid Crisis
- Facts About Naltrexone [PDF]
- Fentanyl: America’s Grim New Opioid Addiction
- How America Got Hooked on Opioids
- How Good Intentions Contributed to Bad Outcomes [PDF]
- How the Government is Making the Opioid Crisis Worse
- Opioid Crisis: Addiction, Overprescription, and Insufficient Primary Prevention
- The Impact of the Deadly Fentanyl ‘Plague’ on One American City
- The Opioid Crisis in Canada: A National Perspective
- Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic
- Unraveling the Start of the Opioid Crisis
- What Led to the Opioid Crisis – and How to Fix It
- Why Is There an Opioid Crisis?
Opioid Use Disorder
- 2-Minute Neuroscience: Opioids
- Drug Addiction: How Opioids Like Fentanyl Work
- How Do Opiates Affect the Nervous System?
- How Drugs Hijack Your Brain’s Mu Opioid Receptors
- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
- Opiate Addiction | The Causes
- Opiate Addiction | The Signs
- Opiate Addiction | Why It’s So Intense
- Opiate Use Disorder or Opiate Addiction?
- Opioid Addiction (CAMH)
- Opioid Overdose (WHO)
- Opioid Use Disorder (NIH)
- Opioid Use Disorder: Medical Treatment Options
- Opioids & the Body: The Science of An Overdose
- Signs of Opioid Use Disorder
- Therapeutic Approaches to Opioid Use Disorder: What is the Current Standard of Care?
- This Is What Happens to Your Brain on Opioids
- Treatment of Opioid-Use Disorders
- What Causes Opioid Addiction, and Why Is It So Tough to Combat?
Talking to Kids About Addiction
- 8 Tips for Talking to Kids About Drugs
- Do’s and Don’ts: Talking to Your Kids About Drugs
- How to Have a Conversation About Drugs and Alcohol with Your Kids
- How to Talk to Kids About Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl
- How to Talk to Young Children About Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
- How to Talk to Your Child About Drugs (Ages 6 to 8)
- How to Talk to Kids About Drugs
- How to Talk to Kids About Drugs
- Prepare Yourself to Talk Effectively
- Talk with Your Children About Gambling
- Talking to Teens about Drugs: Found in Reverse Translation?
- Teen Gambling
- Teens and Drugs: 5 Tips for Talking with Your Kids
- The Domino Effect: Youth and Substance Abuse
- What Parents of Teens Should Know About Online Gambling
- Why You Should Talk with Your Child About Alcohol and Other Drugs
- You Did Drugs. What Do You Tell Your Kids When They Ask?
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