Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco will hold a town hall meeting about the fentanyl crisis at Downey’s Columbia Memorial Space Center on February 17 from 10:00 to noon.
“Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. Even in small doses, it can be deadly. Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Fentanyl “is commonly mixed with drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and made into pills that are made to resemble other prescription opioids. Fentanyl-laced drugs are extremely dangerous, and many people may be unaware that their drugs are laced with fentanyl,” warns the CDC.
The California Department of Public Health says the number of deaths from overdoses related to fentanyl has been “increasing at an unpredictable pace.” The department maintains the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard, which makes available “data on state and local level drug-related overdose outcomes for California, including deaths, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations, as well as opioid and select other drug prescription data.”