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.
Durham has installed two Narcan vending machines as part of a broader effort to make treatment for drug overdoses more accessible.
Two Narcan vending machines are now available to the public in Durham at:
Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 E. Main St.
Durham County Detention Center, 219 S. Mangum St.
Federal health leaders visited Durham on Wednesday to discuss the importance of making Naloxone, an over-the-counter drug sold under the name Narcan, more readily available. Among the visitors were Dr. Rahul Gupta, who oversees the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Narcan is a lifesaving drug that can help reverse overdoses. During Wednesday’s visit to the detention center, Gupta said free access to the treatment is a game changer.
“Every time this happens, it’s a leading effort for the country as an example for the nation, for the state to do that.,” Gupta said. “Are there enough across the country? No. This why I’m here today … to exemplify the leading efforts right here in Durham County.”
Gupta said overdoses in North Carolina have declined in recent years, citing a 14% decrease in overdoses in the state compared to a 5% national decrease.
The vending machine at the detention center will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the vending machine at the Department of Public Health will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
People at risk for opioid overdose, including those struggling with opioid use disorder or taking high doses of opioid medications, are recommended to carry Narcan.
Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 E. Main St.
GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Library shelves are full of all sorts of stories. Some have you on the edge of your seat, others make you laugh or answer pressing questions.
At the Dream Center in Gastonia, a photo book at the Austin Library is an introduction to a bigger story.
“We left one in the library so that students could see who Austin actually was. He was just like them, and that is what I like them to see,” said Tammy Chowdhury.
Her son Austin Chowdhury was well-loved and well-read.
“I feel like he was searching for answers in the world because he read all kinds of things,” Tammy told Queen City News.
The Austin Library is a tribute to the young man who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at 24.
“It was just a total shock, it didn’t feel real,” Tammy says, taking a breath as she relives that dark day.
Barb Walsh Executive Director of fentvic.org urges Davidson County School Board to install naloxone in ALL schools to save student lives from fentanyl. Race Against Drugs Day of Recovery event in Lexington, North Carolina on August 10, 2024.
Advocates who are fighting to keep fentanyl off the streets say more needs to be done. ABC11 (Raleigh) interviewed Patricia Drewes and Beth Moore for this story.
A Raleigh man is being sent to prison after officials from the U.S. Department of Justice say he assisted in distributing fentanyl to a 22-year-old woman who overdosed and died.
A Raleigh man is being sent to prison after officials from the U.S. Department of Justice say he assisted in distributing fentanyl to a 22-year-old woman who overdosed and died.
Treveris Montel Coward, also known as ‘Bad News,’ was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pled guilty on October 4, 2022.
“Drug dealers are increasingly selling drugs laced with deadly fentanyl to make them stronger, more addictive, and more profitable. Now thousands of North Carolinians, including kids, are dying from overdoses,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley.
According to court documents, the victim had previously suffered an overdose, and Coward rendered aid to help her survive. However, despite her recent overdose, he provided her with more fentanyl the following day — causing her to overdose and die.
Easley called Coward “the worst kind of coward” for “rendering aid to an overdose victim only to sell her one final deadly dose.”
He says he hopes narcotics dealers will pay attention to the 15-year sentence.
“If your drugs kill, you will pay a heavy price,” he said.
The sentencing of Coward is an example of the collaborative effort of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Raleigh Police Department in holding those who distribute deadly substances into our community responsible.
“We are grateful for our partnership. Coward distributed fentanyl to a vulnerable 22-year-old individual who was susceptible to an overdose, which led to her tragic death,” said Raleigh Chief of Police Estella Patterson. “[We] will not yield in the fight against fentanyl.”
A man has been charged in connection to a deadly overdose that occurred in 2023, according to deputies with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.
On Jan. 31, 2023, Randolph County deputies responded to the area of Lark Drive in Denton, in reference to a possible overdose.
RCSO detectives began investigating, and Dustin Moffitt was identified as a person of interest as a result of the investigation.
In May, following the investigation, a RCSO detective went to a Grand Jury, who found probable cause for a True Bill of Indictment for death by distribution for Moffitt.
On May 29, Moffitt, 39, was apprehended for the outstanding true bill of indictment. He was additionally charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
