SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The opioid epidemic is ending lives and devastating communities and families.
But Narcan – also known by its generic name Naloxone – is considered by many to be a miracle drug. It can stop an opioid overdose in its tracks and save someone’s life.
The fentanyl crisis continues to grow in California. Just last month, Gov. Newsom announced a new operation targeting fentanyl trafficking rings in San Francisco.
Now, Sacramento County public health officials say they’re seeing a spike in one particular community.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, youth nonprofit Impact Sac, in partnership with Sacramento County, held an event at Liberty Towers Church in the county’s Foothill Farms community to teach kids about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning and how to use Narcan.
One teen shared he experienced an overdose in the past and survived after someone gave him Narcan. He says the experience made him quit all substances.
The Sacramento County Department of Public Health is also educating teens about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning and teaching them how to use Narcan.
It was a lesson taken to heart by 10th grader Shyann Cooper and sixth grader Janiah Johnson.
"If you see somebody unconscious, you hurry up and grab it and put it up their nose," Cooper said. "If they don't wake up in a few minutes, you give them a second dose."
"I think that's a good invention because a lot of people overdose and stuff, and you can really save lives," said Johnson.
They both say they took home some boxes of Narcan.
Kimberly Grimes is human services program planner with the Sacramento County Department of Health Services Substance Use Prevention & Treatment Services. She says the county is doing targeted outreach.
"We are really seeing a high trend and it's really increasing," said Grimes. "Unfortunately, overdoses are affecting our communities of color and specifically the Black and African American young people."
After the presentation, ABC10 spoke with Antonio Vaughns, who helped lead the discussion. He's a senior at Grant High School and lost a brother to an opioid overdose.
"My message to the teens today was [to] stay away from drugs. Even if you're smoking, taking pills, fentanyl can be laced in those drugs and it's a very, very serious drug," said Vaughns.
To those who say giving Narcan to teens might encourage drug use, Impact Sac Managing Director Paris Dye has this response.
"It's kind of like saying teaching CPR is encouraging people to swim without a life jacket... People need to know that there's something out there that could possibly save someone's life," Dye said.
Lori Miller is the division manager for the Sacramento County Department of Health Services Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Services.
"Fentanyl is one of the hugest threats here in our community," said Miller.
County public health leaders say many overdoses happen when someone has no idea they're taking fentanyl.
"Teens are getting fentanyl on the street. Fentanyl is laced or replaced in almost every substance out there right now, including marijuana and vape products, in counterfeit pills and powders on the street, like methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin. Two milligrams of fentanyl can kill someone. That's like a tip of a pencil. It is more potent, it's more deadly, it's more addictive. And so what the drug dealers want is they want people to become addicted. They don't care whether or not people die," added Miller.
Public health officials note Narcan, or naloxone, can only reverse opioid overdoses.
Sacramento County officials say they're also seeing an increase in deaths from an animal tranquilizer called Xylazine, known by its street name "tranq."
