The fentanyl epidemic is here: More people in Sacramento County are now dying from fentanyl poisoning than from gun violence. To educate the public about these tragic deaths – and how to prevent them - the
Sacramento County Department of Health Services is partnering with the
Sacramento County District Attorney‘s Office in sponsoring a Fentanyl Safety Awareness Fair. The free event takes place from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 on the north lawn of the state Capitol.
The safety fair will feature demonstrations on how to use on Narcan - a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose - as well as distribution of free Narcan kits, gift card giveaways, food trucks and resource information from more than 25 community-based organizations.
The overwhelming majority of fentanyl deaths are due to counterfeit prescription pills. According to the DA’s crime lab, which tests drugs seized by law enforcement, 97 percent of pills sold on the street are counterfeit and 97 percent of those pills contain fentanyl, a potent opioid estimated to be 80 times more powerful than morphine.
Fentanyl is odorless and drugs contaminated with fentanyl are almost impossible to tell from drugs that are not contaminated. An estimated 87 people, mostly young adults, have died of fentanyl overdoes in 2021, and 88 died in 2020, a threefold increase from 2019.
