May 10 marked as National Fentanyl Awareness Day

Tuesday is the first-ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day after two senators led an initiative to bring more awareness to the issue.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the Senate resolution to mark May 10 as National Fentanyl Awareness Day.

This is because of the overwhelming number of overdose deaths the country has seen over the years because of fentanyl.

In a 12-month period ending in October 2021, more than 105,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. 69,000 of these deaths involved fentanyl.

The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that about 40% of illegal pills have lethal doses of fentanyl.

In a press release, Senator Feinstein wrote,

“Once fueled by prescription drugs, the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the United States for years is now fueled primarily by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is lethal at extremely low doses. This means when illegal drug dealers mix small amounts of the drug into counterfeit pills, the risk of overdose death rises exponentially,” said Senator Feinstein. “With fentanyl-related deaths climbing every year, we must do more to raise awareness of what is fueling record-high overdose deaths.”

This has been an issue Riverside County has been battling also.

Related Story: Murder charge for Palm Desert woman accused of selling fentanyl that led to man’s death

The Drug Enforcement Administration wants parents to have talks with their kids after issuing a new warning about emojis.

The DEA said that these are coded messages being used by children to buy illegal drugs. One example used was an electrical plug followed by a school bus being used by someone looking for a Xanax pill.

Bill Bodner, DEA Special Agent in Change said that many of these counterfeit pills being sold on the street are laced with fentanyl.

You can find more information and resources on the National Fentanyl Awareness Day website.