The National Crime Prevention Council put out this video and announcement on National Fentanyl Awareness Day. The video is part of the NCPC “Go For Real Campaign”.
Today, on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, the nation unites to honor the memory of loved ones poisoned to death by this drug. This day also serves as an opportunity to elevate this issue. Let’s push for action to stop another family from losing a loved one to this crisis.
The National Crime Prevention Council is resolved to keep fighting fentanyl. Public awareness is always the first step. That’s why McGruff will continue to educate with the PSA you see here.
Despite the progress made in advocating for public policy changes, holding social media companies accountable, and reducing the supply and demand of illicit drug distribution channels—we have to do more.
This crisis remains a persistent threat, and our commitment to addressing it must be equally steadfast. This shouldn’t be a focus for just today, but every day.
Newly-released warrants reveal a Raleigh mother and her unborn baby were among the latest overdose cases as they each died from fentanyl overdoses. The latest data serves as a warning for parents.
Seventeen North Carolinians die from an overdose each day.
Newly released warrants reveal a Raleigh mother and her unborn baby were among the latest cases as they each died from fentanyl overdoses. The latest data serves as a warning for parents.
Barbara Walsh knows the danger of fentanyl, a toxic poison her daughter died from unintentionally in August of 2021.
“Basically, you have a murder with no weapon,” Walsh said. “Fentanyl puts someone to sleep like a dog.”
Sophia drank what she thought was water in a bottle – except it was laced.
“This young woman was 24 years old, Apex High School grad, Appalachian State grad, professionally employed,” said Walsh.
A new search warrant issued by Raleigh police describes a recent suspected fentanyl death of a mother and her unborn child. It happened at an apartment in southeast Raleigh.
Police responded to a woman in cardiac arrest on Aug. 14.
A man inside the apartment told police that she took fentanyl and that he last saw her watching a movie on her phone about an hour earlier before finding her unresponsive.
Wake County EMS administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the symptoms of an opioid overdose.
But the mother and her unborn baby died.
“We are seeing about 3,600 per year die, every year it’s getting larger until this year,” Walsh said.
According to the office of the state medical examiner, there were 193 fentanyl positive deaths in May alone in North Carolina.
Despite that, yearly data is showing a downward trend. There were 3,354 fentanyl deaths in 2022, 3,341 in 2023 and 1,008 so far in 2024.
With this week being International Overdose Awareness Week, she’s hopeful parents can continue to educate their children about the dangers of fentanyl – an odorless, tasteless drug.
“Right now, 7 out of 10 pills not from a pharmacist contain fentanyl,” Walsh said. “Most people don’t know it’s in their pill, a vape or a drink.”
Experimenting with pills has never been deadlier because the drug supply has never been deadlier. James Fishback, founder of NEO: The New Drug Talk, explains what you need to know.
In the ugly history of illicit drugs, no drug is more deadly than fentanyl.
Not cocaine.
Not meth.
Not heroin.
Every day, fentanyl kills over 200 Americans; rich, poor, black, white, old, young. Especially young.
Fentanyl is a cheap synthetic opioid that is incredibly dangerous for two reasons:
It’s FIFTY TIMES stronger than heroin. Just a sugar packet’s worth of fentanyl would kill over 500 people.
Fentanyl is used to create counterfeit versions of popular prescription drugs. These fake pills look identical to the real ones—Xanax, Adderall, Oxycontin, Percocet, and others. You can’t see, smell, or taste the difference. Even agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA, can’t tell the difference between the real pill and the counterfeit one.
Fentanyl isn’t just deadly poison. It’s deadly poison in disguise, and most kids who die from it had no idea they were even taking it.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Pictures of a Greensboro lady who died from a fentanyl overdose are being seen from The Gate City to The Big Apple, due to efforts from her grandmother.
When traveling along Lawndale Dr. Greensboro drivers may notice the face of Ashley Whaby. The shot is only up for a couple of seconds, but that is everything drivers need to get the point.
“She’ll never say yes to the dress. Abby 16 she’ll never graduate high school. Christian left a little boy behind,” said Whaby’s grandmother, Debbie Peeden.
Forever 23, October marks three years since Whaby’s death. Aside from memories, pictures are all that’s left. Wednesday those images are being seen all across the east coast.
“Today in Time Square in New York City Facing Fentanyl is doing a huge event. They’re taking over Time Square. They’ll be pictures and billboards of all the victims across the country who have died from fentanyl poisoning,” Peeden continued, “I’m not going to have her death be in vain, I loved her and raised her like a daughter. She called me Nana, Nana Banana.”
National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day warns people of the drug’s dangers.
“She thought she was getting cocaine, but when we got the toxicology report she had enough fentanyl in her system to kill eight people. She didn’t stand a chance,” said Peeden.
Since Ashley’s death, her grandmother’s mission has changed. She fights to make sure young people have the chance Whaby didn’t.
“Apps like Snapchat make it so simple for a child to go online and get what they think is an adderall or a xanax or a percocet really what they’re going to get is a fentanyl pill that can kill them,” Peeden warned.
Peeden’s advises parents to talk to their kids and know what they are doing online.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it can’t happen to your child because it can, and it does,” exclaimed Peeden.
North Carolina ranks number 6 in total drug overdose deaths, with New Hanover County being three times the national average.
Senator Thom Thillis leads a roundtable discussion on the opioid crisis
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, R-NC, led a roundtable discussion with local elected officials and law enforcement in Wilmington Wednesday on the opioid crisis.
“Nearly a hundred thousand lives are lost every year to opioid, first among them fentanyl,” said Tillis. “We’ve got to figure out how to make headway. We’re losing ground.”
According to a 2020 report from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the majority of the fentanyl that crosses the southern border into the United States originates from China. The report highlights that China remains the primary source of fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and fentanyl precursors which are often smuggled through various routes before reaching the U.S.
A Harnett County man with a history of law enforcement interaction for the past 20 years has been indicted by a grand jury for distributing fentanyl that killed four people on the morning of March 28, 2020.
The jury returned a true bill of indictment on Feb. 26 charging Gerard LaSalle McLean, 37, of 446 Raynor McLamb Road, Bunnlevel, with four counts each of death by distribution and aggravated death by distribution.
“There were two scenes,” explained Harnett County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Aaron Meredith. The first victim, Shannon Lynette McLean, was located at 112 Blake St. in Lillington at 12:49 a.m. Three other victims were found dead in a car located at 242 Nutgrass Road in Bunnlevel at 7:37 a.m.
“There were others who overdosed at both locations and survived,” Meredith shared.
Health officials and lawmakers have warned consumers about the opioid-like effects of tianeptine. But stores are technically still allowed to continue the sale of the drug — for now. Gov. Roy Cooper this month signed into law a bill banning the substance known as “gas station heroin.” But the drug is still sitting on shelves around the region.
That’s because North Carolina’s law doesn’t go into effect until Dec. 1. In the meantime, stores are technically still allowed to continue the sale of tianeptine.
Health officials and lawmakers have warned consumers about the opioid-like effects of tianeptine, which, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has been tied to serious health risks and deaths across the country.
In 2020, there were 151 poison control center cases involving tianeptine, according to the FDA. That’s up from just 11 total from 2000 to 2013.
Concern over the drug led to a rare bipartisan effort to ban the product in North Carolina. Lawmakers in June overwhelmingly voted to approve the removal of tianeptine from store shelves. Cooper signed the bill this month, joining at least nine other states — including border states Tennessee and Georgia — that have passed similar bans.
The Justice Department indicted a Chinese national Monday for allegedly importing 4,000 pounds of fentanyl precursors into the United States. It’s one of the largest fentanyl seizures to date. The chemicals are enough to make pills that could kill millions of Americans.
It has been reported that ten people in North Carolina die each day as a result of fentanyl poisoning and over 375 people in Davidson County have also died as a result since 2015. Recently Davidson County has been inundated with more deaths associated with fentanyl. It is saddening to hear the number of individuals that have lost their lives from fentanyl poisoning and the statistics are as shocking when the age range of those killed by fentanyl is exposed. Locally, there have been countless arrests made by law enforcement of persons selling the deadly drug within our own community. There have also been arrests made of parents and caretakers of children that are being poisoned after ingesting the drug, unaware. This dangerous drug effects everyone and has the potential of killing someone that each of us know and loves, if it hasn’t already. It is time to end the excuses that too many live by, that it is not our problem, because it now is.
The General Assembly recognizes that deaths due to opioids are devastating families and communities across North Carolina. The General Assembly finds that the opioid crisis is overwhelming medical providers engaged in the lawful distribution of controlled substances and is straining prevention and treatment efforts. As a result of these related deaths, the General Assembly enacts this law to encourage effective intervention by the criminal justice system to hold illegal drug dealers accountable for criminal conduct that results in death.
The older version of the law stated that a person is guilty of death by distribution if all of the following requirements are met:
The person unlawfully sold at least one controlled substance such as an opioid cocaine or methamphetamine
The substance sold cause the death of the user
The person who sold the drug did not act with malice
The crime was a Class C felony, which usually results in a 5-12 year prison sentence with a maximum sentence of 19 years.
The updated version of the law removes the malice requirement or proof that the drug was sold. Under the new law, perpetrators can be charged with a Class C felony if they simply distribute a drug such as methamphetamine, fentanyl or cocaine that leads to a victim’s death. If the perpetrator did act with malice, the distributor could be charged with a Class B2 felony.
On August 10th from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Breeden Amphitheater in Lexington, A Raced Against Drugs (RAD) is hoping to educate the community and to counteract fentanyl use and distribution with their event entitled A Day of Recovery. In addition, the event organizers and directors of the non profit organization, Michael and Lorrie Loomis will increase awareness of the life-saving drug naloxone, which is a synthetic drug, similar to morphine, that blocks opiate receptors in the nervous system. Naloxone is used in the case of overdose.
RAD is a passion project for the Loomis’ after their son, James Allen Loomis passed away from fentanyl poisoning on April, 22, 2021, making him “Forever 27.”
The RAD event is for everyone and will feature numerous experts offering kind advice for all that attend and live entertainment. There will also be food trucks, a 50/50 raffle and much more. For information please visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1374857129674223. To contribute to the organization to reach the directors email raceagainstdrugs2024@gmail.com.
It is time to eliminate the threat of fentanyl in our community and across NC.
