When Amy Neville, of Aliso Viejo, California, lost her 14-year-old son Alex to an illicit pill that contained a fatal amount of fentanyl in 2020, the dealer was just one town over continuing to sell using the popular smartphone app Snapchat. “We think Alex bought from him over the weekend before taking the pill,” Ms….

When Amy Neville, of Aliso Viejo, California, lost her 14-year-old son Alex to an illicit pill that contained a fatal amount of fentanyl in 2020, the dealer was just one town over—continuing to sell—using the popular smartphone app Snapchat. “We think Alex bought from him over the weekend before taking the pill,” Ms. Neville, who…

Fentanyl is silently killing thousands of youth and young adults as California lawmakers struggle to pass laws preventing teens and adults from accessing the drug easily. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is often laced with other drugs, resulting in users unknowingly consuming it, leading to dangerous situations of addiction or overdose, leading to death….

Doctors in Australia have called on the New South Wales (NSW) government to take action on instituting a drug law reform and saving lives. This comes after Queensland Government became the latest jurisdiction to expand police drug diversion programs for people carrying small amounts of illicit drugs. According to a new report from the National Drug and Alcohol…

Commentary The devastating fentanyl epidemic in San Francisco, California has become so catastrophic that on April 21, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will send in the National Guard and California Highway Patrol to help. As part of a new collaborative operation with the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco District Attorney’s…

LOS ANGELES—Three people who may have overdosed on drugs were found dead April 5 inside an apartment building in the Skid Row area. The bodies of two men and one woman were discovered Wednesday afternoon inside 649 Lofts, a building in the 600 block of Wall Street, near Sixth Street, the Los Angeles Times reported….

As British Columbia’s temporary decriminalization of hard drugs kicks in this week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says relaxation of illicit drug access and lax law enforcement in the province have led to surging overdose deaths and rising crime. Effective Jan. 31, B.C. residents aged 18 and over won’t be arrested or charged if found in possession…

Commentary Taylor Marie was just 4 years old when she lost her mom to fentanyl. Her grandmother, who now takes care of her, has been open with her about how and why her mom died. Taylor, now 6, is an outspoken advocate about the dangers of fentanyl, speaking at rallies and to her peers at school….

After several cases of student overdoses due to the synthetic opioid fentanyl, California lawmakers introduced a bill requiring naloxone—a nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose—on K–12 school campuses. While schools are permitted to carry naloxone on campus, Assembly Bill 19—introduced Dec. 5 by newly-elected Assemblyman Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin)—would require schools to always have at…

The United States has been in the midst of an opioid crisis for over two decades with the pandemic only aggravating an already looming problem. With words such as fentanyl, morphine, heroin, and opioids constantly being thrown around in the media, we can become fearful of these drugs that were once made and used to…