The California State Assembly Select Committee on Fentanyl, Opioid Addiction and Overdose Prevention on Aug. 12 during an informational hearing discussed the urgency of combating the rise in overdose deaths among youth in recent years primarily due to ingesting fentanyl.
Between 2019 and 2021, drug overdoses became the third most common cause of death for U.S. children and teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An average of 22 adolescents died of drug overdose in the U.S. every week in 2022, the CDC reports.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid-related deaths in California increased 121% from 2019 to 2021, according to the state’s health department. The vast majority of these deaths were linked to fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.
“It’s a crisis that affects every single county and city in our state,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, chair of the committee. “It is not a political issue. It is not one that affects only certain areas, not rural, not suburban, not urban. It’s not a San Francisco problem. It is a problem that is affecting our entire state.”
The committee heard from youth overdose prevention organizations, health experts, researchers and parents of teenagers who died from taking drugs laced with fentanyl. It focused on the impact of social media and the need to boost education on the dangers of opioids in elementary schools.
“We can address this crisis and save our students’ lives by providing drug awareness education to our students and providing the lifesaving drug naloxone and training on its seeds for school staff,” said Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose.
Dr. Jayme Congdon, a physician and addiction researcher at University of California, San Francisco, said that fewer children and adolescents are using opioids than past years. However, rates of youth addiction disorders and overdoses are increasing.
“The opioids that kids are using today, and we’re talking mainly about fentanyl, is much more addictive than opioids that were used in years past,” she said. “So of the fewer people are using, but of the people who do use, they are more likely to develop an addiction or substance use disorder.”
The state has taken several steps to counteract the crisis by teaching youth about the risks of fentanyl-laced drugs through public schools.
Last year, Melanie’s Law was signed into law. It requires all middle and high schools to develop a plan to prevent and respond to fentanyl overdoses. It was named after Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old student who was found dead in 2022 from a suspected fentanyl overdose in a bathroom at the high school she attended in Hollywood.
The Campus Opioid Safety Act requires each community college district and California State University campus to offer students free Naloxone and provide preventative information on opioid overdose.
Amy Neville, whose 14-year-old son died of fentanyl poisoning in Southern California, spoke at Monday’s meeting. She suggested that opioid overdose education be required to start as early as elementary school.
“What’s worked historically, like with tobacco and drinking, is we hit them early in elementary school. That is where we need to start having these conversations,” she said.
Her son Alexander Neville died in 2020 after taking a fake oxycodone pill that was laced with fentanyl. The day before he died, Alexander told his parents that he was getting pills through a dealer he met on Snapchat, a social media app.
She said that social media has desensitized the use of drugs among impressionable teenagers and allows wider access to obtain drugs.
“Today’s social media companies have become the proverbial last mile for drug distribution networks,” Neville said. “Social media, in particular Snapchat, is the most efficient means for soliciting and obtaining new clients, especially youth.”
Laura Marquez-Garrett, an attorney with the Social Media Victims Law Center, said that most of the children and adolescents who got ahold of counterfeit pills on social media obtained them through Snapchat. The Law Center is based out of the state of Washington and advocates to hold social media companies accountable for the harm they inflict on vulnerable users.
In October 2022, the firm filed its first fentanyl-related claim against Snapchat and worked with more than 160 families who lost their children to fentanyl poisoning via social media. Snapchat was involved in almost every instance, Marquez-Garrett said.
In response to the allegations, Snapchat spokesperson Ashley Adams said they’ve “invested hundreds of millions of dollars in safety and law enforcement operations teams to help bring dealers to justice in advanced technology to detect and remove illicit drug-related content.”
Adams said, “We continue to raise awareness to help keep our community safe through in-app educational content.”
Marquez-Garrett, Neville and several assemblymembers agreed that more steps need to be taken to address the effect of social media on youth and its role in the overdose crisis.
The Kids Online Safety Act, a federal bill that would require social media platforms to protect children from dangerous online content, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate just last week. Its supporters hope that it will be approved by the House.
“The drug dealers of today are not selling drugs on the street or on a street corner,” said Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-Hayward. “They are selling them on our social media sites.”
The next committee session will take place in 2025. Assemblymembers will use the information gathered this week to try and develop effective techniques in reducing overdose deaths among the youth.
“We want to act,” said Assemblymember Jim Patterson, R-Fresno. “We’re here to do more than listen. Maybe we can have three or four good legislative ideas that maybe we can pass on to other members in the next session.”
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