Fentanyl Poisoning: Parent Heartbreak, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS

Fentanyl Poisoning: Parent Heartbreak

By Jondi Gumz

For parents, it’s a tragedy they never expected.

A young man employed at a grocery had a terrible case of hives and couldn’t sleep. He took a Benadryl and part of a Xanax pill and never woke up. He was dead at age 29. His Xanax, a sedative prescribed for anxiety, was counterfeit -- actually deadly fentanyl.

A mom came home to find her son, who loved playing guitar, unresponsive. He was dead at age 20. He had ordered Percocet, an opioid pain reliever; delivered to his door, it was laced with deadly fentanyl.

A young man, a passionate skateboarder, took half a Xanax to help with anxiety. He was dead at age 26. His Xanax, purchased from a dealer, looked like a pill sold at a pharmacy but it contained enough fentanyl to kill him.

All of these young people lived in Santa Cruz County, mourned by loved ones.

The numbers are heart-breaking.

Suki Wessling of Growing Up in Santa Cruz reported that since January 2020, fentanyl has taken the lives of 10 young people in their 20s and four teens.

A map of fentanyl overdoses since January 2020 created by Santa Cruz County Coroner Stephany Fiore shows a countywide problem, with clusters in Aptos, Watsonville, Pleasure Point and Santa Cruz plus single incidents in Ben Lomond and Lompico.

“It’s Russian roulette right now,” Fiore said.

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Rita Hewitt, parent and program coordinator at the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County, hosted a “town hall” on the crisis April 25 via Zoom. For a recording, see www.hipscc. org/saferx.

Ten officials in health care, law enforcement and education attempted to answer some 74 questions – the biggest puzzle being why would drug dealers kill their customers?

Santa Cruz Police Lt. Carter Jones explained, “A pound of fentanyl can be cut…and make a lot of profit. Nobody’s thinking about client health.”

Insufficient Evidence

Despite the record-setting fentanyl deaths, Johanna Schonfield, Santa Cruz County assistant district attorney, said she hasn’t seen a case with sufficient evidence to file homicide charges. Her office is working to educate law enforcement on what is needed.

Fentanyl poisonings are so frequent that officers carry Narcan, naloxone nasal spray antidote.

“We had an overdose death two nights ago,” he said. “We’re seeing things every day that test positive for fentanyl.”

Fentanyl is made in a lab — no need to grow crops — and is 50 times more powerful than heroin, so a tiny amount can kill.

“For every pill, there is a counterfeit,” Hewitt said. “Please assume most pills from the street are tainted with fentanyl… Drugs can be dropped off, it’s almost as easy as ordering a pizza.”

Fentanyl slows breathing. The brain stops signaling the body to breathe, and the person can’t be woken up.

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