SCOTTSDALE, AZ — On Monday, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office held a forum about ways to fight the fentanyl epidemic.
Expert panelists at the forum in Scottsdale say that the fentanyl crisis is a teenage crisis. While things like NARCAN can save someone who is having a fentanyl overdose, the best way families can protect their kids is with information.
Fentanyl deaths in Maricopa County have increased by 5,000% in the last decade, according to officials.
“You can order it up online, you don’t have to go to a bad part of town and find a dealer anymore. Dealers sell on social media,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
Over the last two years, the DEA seized more than half of the country’s illicit fentanyl in Arizona. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has seen a dramatic increase in the number of fentanyl cases.
“What’s different that we’re seeing is that a lot of the cartel members are using people here to get the poison and bring it back across,” said Mitchell.
“I’m just really concerned because it’s cropping up more and more and more,” said Marybeth Evans, a Chandler nurse and grandmother.
Organizers of the forum, which took place at Notre Dame Prep, say educating kids, parents and teachers is essential. The drug is most commonly found in counterfeit pills and in powders and vapes too.
Fentanyl is more potent than heroin or morphine.
“Substances have been used by youth, one, because of peer pressure, but most importantly, as a tool to help, in quotes, with mental health,” said Cole Nochumson, a prevention specialist with notMYkid.
Officials say overdose victims are all too common as well, more than three people die on average every day in Maricopa County because of fentanyl.
While law enforcement focuses on fighting trafficking, it is up to parents to teach their kids that one pill can kill.
