Fentanyl is described by San Diego's District Attorney as a drug with no runway. It's a cliff that DA Summer Stephan says has taken the lives of 70,000 people across the country — more than 800 of them were here in San Diego County in just one year.
“That’s the worst you can find. Your son in his bedroom gone and I couldn't do anything about it, " Rita Palet said through tears.
Rita and her husband Dave were among the parents who shared their heartache of losing a child to fentanyl-laced drugs during the Fentanyl Awareness Day event Tuesday night at the Carlsbad Library.
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“I literally believe it's possible to die from a broken heart. I would not wish this pain on anybody," said Karrie Gonzales.
Gonzalez said her 21-year-old son, Erik, was prescribed opioids in high school for a football injury, opening the door to addiction and his death from fentanyl-laced drugs nearly three years ago.
“This is a crisis. And now you can buy it off Snapchat and parents don't realize, it is your kid, you may not want to think it's your kid, but it is your kid and it’s the kid sitting next to them in school or class that they're getting the drugs from," explained Gonzales.
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Preliminary data shows recent fentanyl-related deaths may be trending down, fractionally, in San Diego County, according to Stephan.
But they exploded between 2019 and 2021, from 152 to more than 800. One of the youngest victims was just 13 years old.
Local leaders say oftentimes kids experimenting with what they think are prescription pills, purchased online through social media or given to them by a friend, are tainted with fentanyl.
"The age of experimentation is well past,” explained Stephan. “There is no experimenting anymore. Your next experiment could end with someone in a morgue.”
Stephan said San Diego is tackling the issue with a three-pronged approach: Prevention through education, like National Fentanyl Awareness Day, protection by destigmatizing addiction and prosecution.
“We prosecuted 508 dealers last year," said Stephan.
Though hundreds of dealers are off the street, parents say it can't replace what the dealers’ deadly products took.
“That kid got 20 years, his mom and I and his godmother, we got life,” said David Palet. We will never recover. There’s a huge hole in our hearts. We try and spend our time saving other lives.”
