By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
SJ agencies aim to share growing dangers of fentanyl with parents Oct. 9
fentanyl
Law enforcement throughout the Central Valley have seen an uptick in arrests along the Highway 99 corridor after stopping vehicles that were later found to be carrying large quantities of the counterfeit pills that were in fact fentanyl. San Joaquin County deputies discovered as many as 20,000 fentanyl pills during a stop in Ripon last year that were disguised in hair gel containers (Photo contributed).

An event next week sponsored by a coalition of San Joaquin County agencies aims to educate parents and their children about the dangers of illicit fentanyl.

On Monday, Oct. 9, a joint presentation between the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, San Joaquin County Public Health Services, and the San Joaquin County Office of Education will focus on raising awareness about the dangers that fentanyl – a synthetic opiate that can be as much as 50 times stronger than heroin – poses to the youth of San Joaquin County.

The event will take place at the Wentworth Education Center located at 2707 Transworld Drive in Stockton – accessible from Arch Road off of Highway 99 – from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event will be livestreamed on the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s YouTube channel, and dinner and desert will be provided for those in attendance starting at 5:30 p.m.

Those that attend will be trained in how to administer Narcan (naloxone) – the drug used to reverse opiate overdoses – and will receive a dose to keep on hand in case it ever needs to be used to save somebody’s life.  Organizers strongly encourage those interested in attending to RSVP by visiting www.bit.ly/FentanylTownHall23.

The forum will include a keynote address from Tony Hoffman – an addiction specialist and former California prison inmate that turned his life around and ended up coaching in the Olympics – and will also include speakers from the San Joaquin County Opioid Safety Council, the and the Central Valley California High-Intensity Drug Traffic Area.

As part of an ongoing public education campaign the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office is hoping that the event will open the eyes of parents and their children about the dangers that fentanyl poses and

“The District Attorney’s Office is embarking on a robust public information campaign to educate our county’s youth regarding the dangers of illicit drugs, particularly fentanyl, thanks to funding from our Board of Supervisors, which believes strongly in this mission,” Deputy District Attorney Cindy De Silva said. “Parents should be aware of small, round and blue pills stamped with an ‘M’ on one side and a ‘30’ on the other, which is the form illicit fentanyl often takes, although fentanyl powder can be present in other substances or different types of pills as well.

“These pills are often known on the street as ‘oxies’ or ‘percs’ but in fact contain no oxycodone or Percocet, but instead contain illicitly produced fentanyl.”

For additional information about opioid screening and resources – including Narcan kits – residents are encouraged to contact the San Joaquin County Opioid Safety Council by visiting www.SJCOpioidSafety.org or by calling 209.953.7309.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.