Fentanyl Awareness Day
On August 29, 2021, Colin Walker overdosed from an inadvertent exposure to fentanyl. Tragically, Colin has been part of an epidemic of death where adolescents experimenting with different drugs have paid with their lives. The specter of fentanyl increasingly appears ubiquitous, a threat that is unsparing across race and socioeconomic strata.
Members of our Youth Commission recently hosted the first-ever Fentanyl Awareness Day in April, 2024, at our local middle school to better educate the local community on several critical issues. A deep list of expert first responders, government leaders, educators, physicians, and addiction specialists briefed attendees on the lethality of even tiny amounts of fentanyl and the associated perils of unknowingly taking counterfeit pills that might be contaminated. The administration of Narcan was described, as well as different ways to access it.
For other youth commissions interested in doing their own work, there were a number of valuable lessons. Attendees highlighted the speakers as highly informative, citing their passion and diversity of expertise. We were also pleased the event received significant media attention, including newspapers and television crews covering important issues. Participants appreciated the support from wonderful local businesses that donated refreshments, a raffle, and a broad coalition of town leaders, including the town council, city manager and staff liaison, and school board members.
There were important areas to improve the next time we do this. We encountered challenges connecting with our principal target audience (teens). We tried making posts on Instagram but did not get enough hits to attract many teens. We also tried publicizing our event through town-sponsored media; however, these media forms are typically targeted toward the adults in our community. Translation: there were more parents and grandparents attending than kids. In the future, we will start publicizing our event earlier in the year, including announcements in person at schools and through school media. It won’t be easy, but nothing good is ever easy. We are eager to hear from others about innovative ways to increase engagement with teens.
A final comment – we would propose that responding effectively to the fentanyl epidemic benefits from the emergence of new groups like the CAYC. Every town in California can and should have its own fentanyl awareness day, customized to the unique needs of that town and supported by the town leaders and community organizers. But we collectively also have an opportunity to increase awareness and effect relevant policy. This is just not easy to do at the level of a town. The CAYC aspires to consolidate local learnings into actionable policy recommendations to address the fentanyl epidemic and more.
Image credit: https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl