A group of elementary students from High Tech Middle Mesa raised money to send a strong message to other young people about the dangers of fentanyl.
There are many illegal drugs sold on San Diego's streets and online that contains fentanyl, which is causing minors to die.
“The topic of the project is very rarely talked about, especially to kids our age,” said Angel Sediego.
Drug addiction is the topic, and according to 13-year-old Angel, parents don’t talk about it enough.
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“They would be very bland, they don’t go deep into detail, they would say, ‘don’t take drugs, don’t drink too much alcohol when you’re older,’ but they don’t tell us why or how it will affect us,” she said.
That’s why Angel was extremely interested in being part of the Breaking Free Project.
This idea was created by Freddie Bermudez, a teacher at High Tech Middle Mesa who says the purpose is to help students understand addiction and its impact on their lives, families, and friends.
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“It’s part of my life, I grew up with an alcoholic mother, and I know how difficult that is,” Bermudez said. “Knowing that some of my students are also struggling with what I was struggling with when I was little, it was important to do something like this.”
Half of the 56 students that participated in the Breaking Free project, made a documentary, they interviewed drug addicts, their families, counselors, and authorities, the other half like Angel and Sol raised money during a walkathon to pay for a billboard on Main St. and 28th St. in Barrio Logan.
“As it says, 'one pill can kill,'” Angel said. “I feel not a lot of people realized that especially looking at that little pill.”
The use of fentanyl among young people has increased by more than 200% in the last 5 years, according to Dr. Beatriz Villareal, who is dedicated to raising awareness among families about the dangers of drugs, and says fentanyl is responsible for more than 2,000 deaths of young people in San Diego County since 2019.
“Two grams of fentanyl can kill you and you don’t know how many come in a pill,” said Villareal. “If you buy an illegal drug like oxycontin on social media, you don’t know how many grams of fentanyl it has.”
Learn more about the impact of the fentanyl crisis on local communities in NBC 7’s in-depth project "Poison Pill: San Diego's Battle With the Fentanyl Crisis." Watch here.
According to Villareal, the reason drug dealers are adding fentanyl to all their drugs is that it’s highly addictive, and at least six times stronger than heroin.
“Illegal drugs could be anywhere, and no one realizes it,” Angel said.
The voice of a teen, Freddie hopes it will be strong enough to save lives.
“When it comes from your peers, when people are younger than you are, sometimes it has a lot of power and a lot of meaning to it,” Freddie said.
The message will be on the billboard for a month, the hope of Professor Bermudez and his students, is that someone understands the impact that these words have on young people especially and sponsor them and together prevent more deaths.
The billboard cost students $2,500 for one month, they would like to keep it going but say they need donations to make that happen.
