Musings: Help save lives from fentanyl
Last year, an estimated 80,391 people in the United States died of drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics — and about 60% of those deaths were fentanyl-related. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Fentanyl continues to take a staggering toll on lives across our nation. National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day is recognized annually on Aug. 21.
In 2024 alone, we lost an estimated 80,391 people in the United States to overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. While lower than the year before, that number is still devastating — and about 60% of those deaths were fentanyl-related. That means nearly three of every five overdose deaths last year were caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid so powerful that just one pill can be deadly.
Behind each number is a person whose life mattered. They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors, and loved ones. My only child, Vincent, was just 25 when fentanyl — unknowingly in the drugs he bought — took his life in 2017. He was kind, funny, and compassionate, and he deserved so much more.
There is no one solution to this crisis, but there are steps we can take. Real prevention is more than a yearly assembly in a school. It’s honest, evidence-based education — woven into daily lessons every school year. It means giving kids real tools: communication skills, decision-making, and ways to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression. Parents, too, need straight facts so they can guide their kids with love and truth.
We must ensure treatment and recovery are priorities, not privileges. And health care visits should include mental health and substance-use screening, because when treatment is needed, it must be there quickly.
As a community, we cannot ignore this crisis. We must continue to raise awareness, support prevention and education, fight stigma, and make treatment and recovery accessible to all who need it.
Let us honor those we’ve lost, stand beside those still struggling, and remember this truth: One pill or one unknowing dose can kill — but together we can save lives.
— Sharon Richmond, Northport
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