Local, state, and federal governments have been desperate for an effective way to reduce the sale and risks of fentanyl. With bittersweet success.
Its consumption, according to a recently published report, has been reduced mainly among adolescents, but its lethality has increased due to the false pills that flood the market.
Recently, the death of a 15-year-old Los Angeles student set off alarm bells in LAUSD. As a preventive measure, they approved the use of naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an overdose.
However, Riverside authorities have gone further, imposing murder charges for those fentanyl sellers who are convicted.
This has been presented as a success and has drawn the attention of law enforcement authorities in neighboring cities.
Sheriff Chad Bianco, whose investigators have arrested 22 people in connection with fentanyl-related deaths since the county launched its war against suspected dealers in early 2021, said several law enforcement agencies throughout California have been reaching out to his department and the District Attorney’s Office to find out what they are doing and how they are doing it.
Since the District Attorney’s Office filed its first murder charge for a fentanyl-related death in February 2021, prosecutors have pursued murder cases against 19 defendants suspected in 20 deaths.
Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. About 2 milligrams is a potentially fatal dose for most people. One teaspoon of fentanyl contains about 5,000 milligrams.
The drug’s extremely high-risk death potential has earned it a phrase among its staunch opponents: “One and done.”
Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, including in China, and, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels. The substance is a popular additive, mixed into any number of narcotics and pharmaceuticals.
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