For the third year, May 7 is National Fentanyl Awareness Day, a banal way to acknowledge a deadly crisis that has spread across the country like red wine on a white tablecloth.
Every effort is needed, officials point out.
In 2023, more than 70,000 people died nationally after overdosing on illegally-made fentanyl, according to information provided by Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon’s attorney general.
To put that in perspective, 41,000 people in the U.S. died in car crashes that same year, states the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration.
So, what to do about it?
National Fentanyl Awareness Day is part of a campaign to get parents, teachers and community leaders in the U.S. to confront the dangers of fentanyl.
And time is wasting, according to Rosenblum.
In a Tuesday press release, Rosenblum referred to Song for Charlie, a national non-profit undertaking a student- and- parent education campaign to reduce unintentional fentanyl overdoses in young people.
Changes in the fight against drugs and addiction are coming to Oregon this fall.
In April, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a package of bills that makes minor drug possession a crime again and infuses millions of dollars into behavioral-health programs, officially marking the end of the state’s short-lived and politically tumultuous experience with drug decriminalization.
Now that legislators have taken action, on Tuesday Multnomah County officials unveiled their plans for the public-relations side of the battle.
During a press conference, Molly Franks, an adolescent-health program specialist for the county, said many fentanyl overdoses happen accidentally because it’s in fake pills bought on the street.
In 2023, seven out of 10 fake pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl, Multnomah County officials pointed out in a statement.
Over the past five years, 332 Oregonians between the ages of 15 to 24 have died from drug-related causes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most died from fentanyl, making drug overdose the leading cause of death for this age group.
Fentanyl is about 50 times more powerful than heroin.
In the past five years, teen drug-related deaths in Oregon increased nearly sixfold, four times faster than the national average.
On Tuesday, Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Richard Bruno outlined a campaign to alert young people about the dangers of fentanyl.
In May, he said, the county plans to roll out a series of public-service announcements – the campaign is called “Expect Fentanyl” – on everything from social-media sites to bus stops.
“This much fentanyl can kill you,” one of the campaign’s posters states over a picture of a tiny amount of the drug on the tip of a pencil. The poster adds:
“Just a little – the size of 10 grains of salt – can cause a deadly overdose.”
The goal is to make clear to young people that a fatal dose of fentanyl might lurk in any street drug, and that you can’t smell or taste it when it’s mixed with other substances.
“We must help our youth,” Bruno said.
One cohesive message, starting on National Fentanyl Day, for everyone: Expect fentanyl.
-- Tom Hallman Jr. is a member of the public safety team. Reach him at 503 221-8224; thallman@oregonian.com
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