SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — In what police called a “drug-related incident,” four people were pronounced deceased Monday at a South Lake Tahoe home.
The substance investigators found inside the home tested presumptively as fentanyl, however autopsies and toxicology reports are still pending.
Their deaths come as the United States faces a fentanyl epidemic. In California alone, more than 6,400 deaths were reported in 2022, the most recent year with complete data by the Center for Health Statistics and Informatics.
Chris Didier knows the pain the families of the victims feel; it’s been more than three years since the loss of his son, Zach, to fentanyl poisoning in Rocklin. It happened from a counterfeit pill.
“Zach and his friends were not realizing that what they were buying was something extremely lethal and extremely dangerous,” Didier said.
According to the CDC, synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Agency said drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs like heroin and cocaine because of its potency and low cost.
Angela Webb, executive director of the non-profit Arrive Alive CA, said the problem is bigger than many people realize.
“A lot of people don't realize it only takes two grains of salt of fentanyl to kill you; that's a lethal dose,” Webb said.
“So when (drug dealers) go in and start mixing these ingredients together or lacing other categories of drugs with this substance, they're not realizing they're killing off people at the same time,” said Webb.
Didier said his son, Zach, was a successful student, multi-sport athlete, and a high-caliber kid with a brilliant future ahead of him. What happened to him came as a shock.
“It does not matter social economic status, if you're wealthy or if you're not, if your child is successful or not successful, fentanyl will not discriminate, and it can affect all of us,” Didier said.
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