Tuesday, May 10, was our nation’s first-ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day, created by a broad coalition of nonprofit organizations, major corporations, government agencies, and schools whose mission is to raise awareness about the presence of fentanyl in counterfeit pills.
Illegally made fentanyl is the primary driver of the recent increase in overdose deaths, and fentanyl-involved deaths are the fastest growing among 14 year olds to 23 year olds.
National Fentanyl Awareness Day is supported by an advisory council comprised of experts in drug policy, public health, harm reduction, internet safety and neuroscience. This breadth of expertise is indicative of the urgency that all stakeholders share about the need to alert the public about the unprecedented increase in drug-related deaths driven by fentanyl, and to initiate a national conversation about solutions.
This makes now, more than ever, a fitting time to reflect on Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC) and their place in our city and our community. Far too many lives have been lost to the overdose and addiction crisis this country is facing. Action needs to be taken before any more lives are lost to overdoses, which are reversible with the use of naloxone and the integration of more OPCs.
(Alexandra Nyman, a Grymes Hill resident, is editor-in-chief of Sobercity, a digital sober social network.)
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