Combatting Fentanyl Abuse

The synthetic opioid fentanyl continues to bring addiction, heartbreak, and death to our community.

The number of Santa Clara County deaths in 2023 attributed to the deadly drug fentanyl more than doubled in just a single month, going from 17 at the end of April to 41 at the end of May. This drug has no boundaries in Santa Clara County killing mostly teens and young adults of every socio-economic background, from the wealthiest neighborhoods to the most disadvantaged, to the homeless. It affects everyone equally.

Fentanyl-laced pills are now circulating widely throughout Santa Clara County with most deaths involving fentanyl combined with other drugs, including methamphetamine. The pills known as M-30s are particularly dangerous and widely available in our county.

At a recent news conference, Santa Clara County Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky told the story of how half of a single M-30 led to an overdose death in San Jose earlier this year. You can view it here.

There is a clear danger in taking pills not prescribed to you and not bought from a pharmacy. In 2022, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Laboratory found that six in ten fake prescription pills contained a potentially fatal dose of fentanyl. The County of Santa Clara Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner recorded 161 fentanyl fatalities last year.

For more than a year now, the County of Santa Clara has focused significant resources on the fentanyl epidemic. The Board of Supervisors approved additional staff and funding for the District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute the drug dealers pushing fentanyl in our community. The County’s Fentanyl Working Group has more than 20 members, including representatives from law enforcement, public health, and families of fentanyl overdose victims.

Naloxone, popularly known by the brand name Narcan, is a highly effective agent that counteracts opioid overdoses, including fentanyl. The county’s Behavioral Health Services Department now offers free Narcan kits and training on how to use them. They also provide fentanyl test strips to anyone in the community.

This summer, Behavioral Health Services is collaborating with the Santa Clara County Library District on a series of workshops focused on preventing opioid overdoses, including from fentanyl. The workshops cover drug education, including recognizing an overdose, and will also provide Narcan training.

Currently, we are in the process of getting Narcan on public transportation, bars and restaurants, colleges, housing projects, and more. The Fentanyl Working Group is putting together a plan to train pediatricians and primary care physicians on how to deal with fentanyl and opioid addiction issues with youth and young adults. We are not letting up in our efforts to combat fentanyl abuse in our community.