County to host virtual town hall on fentanyl

County Supervisor Jim Desmond and District Attorney Summer Stephan plan to host a virtual town hall tonight on the dangers of fentanyl with an emphasis on getting the message out to parents.

The Zoom event, titled “What Every Parent Should Know About Fentanyl,” is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Anyone interested in attending the town hall should register at https://www.supervisorjimdesmond.com/fentanylsd Organizers say those who register will be emailed a Zoom invitation link.

“The tragic stories of fentanyl overdoses are becoming all too common, with heartbreaking stories of kids dying because they bought prescription pills like Adderall or Xanax and they turned out to be laced with fentanyl,” Desmond said in a news release. “As we head into summer and kids are out of school, it’s imperative that parents are equipped with the knowledge to talk to their kids about fentanyl.”

There has been a sharp increase in unintentional drug overdose deaths in San Diego County in recent years.

The county Medical Examiner’s Office said there were more than 800 fentanyl-related deaths in 2021, up from 151 in 2019. A final count has not yet been tallied because of a backlog in toxicology testing.

More than 107,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2021, with 75 percent of those deaths due to synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scheduled speakers at the virtual town hall include a representative from the DEA’s Narcotics Task Force 10, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the county Medical Examiner’s Office and an emergency room physician. Also scheduled to speak are the parents of a Cathedral Catholic student who died last year from an overdose.

Organizers say a Spanish translation will be available.