fentanyl overdoses

As in other states, including Florida, California officials are stepping up efforts to combat the spread of xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s increasingly being used by people, often with devastating results

A Florida police department says Narcan saved an officer suffering an overdose. Other cops regularly report being poisoned while encountering trace amounts of fentanyl. Some researchers have doubts.

The Florida Department of Health has issued thousands of free Narcan kits but is still trying to make more available to the public.

It’s a move that some advocates have long sought as a way to improve access to a life-saving drug, though the exact impact will not be clear immediately. Here’s a look at the issues involved.

Proponents say prosecutors and police need more tools to help with the fight because fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are so deadly. Others worry harsher penalties will result in even more dangerous drug supplies and punish people who really need help.

Each woman has lost a child to fentanyl - two of them at age 26 and another at 36. Says one: “The message has to get out there.”

Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, is increasingly finding its way into street drugs across the country. Analysts at New Hampshire's state crime lab estimate they’re finding it in about 15% of the fentanyl they test.

About a third of the city's 2,000 homeless deaths between April 2020 and March 2021 were from an overdose. The federal government says the highly addictive and lethal synthetic drug has become the deadliest drug in the nation.

Dr. Jason Wilson says African Americans as well as low-income and other vulnerable populations are being affected by fentanyl overdoses "at a much higher disproportionate rate" than others.

These steps follow the recent deaths of six people in Gadsden County from fentanyl overdoses. That prompted first lady Casey DeSantis to call for a meeting to work out strategies to warn residents and promote increased awareness.