Fentanyl Awareness

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively involved in raising awareness about the growing opioid and stimulant epidemic, which is taking too many lives and devastating the families left behind.  Our fentanyl and methamphetamine prosecutions have increased exponentially over the past five years, [KC1] as have our cases against those dealers whose actions result in overdoses.  In addition to partnering with law enforcement partners on the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team, and working closely with DEA’s Team 10—an overdose response unit—the U.S. Attorney’s Office is also a member of the San Diego County Substance Abuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force (SUOPT), a multi-disciplinary taskforce committed to reducing the harms of substance use through collaboration and coordination among community partners.

But we recognize that we cannot prosecute our way out of this challenge. Members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office are also out in the community providing educational presentations, creating awareness messages, and harnessing the voices of local youth athletes, like in the collaborative Block Fentanyl Campaign and Team Up Campaign with San Diego State University athletes.

Our office has also been involved in several Western Region Overdose Prevention Summits, which convened regional and national leaders to share emerging trends and best practices.  These summits focus on effective law enforcement investigations; reducing stigma; reaching diverse communities; connecting public health, public safety, and prevention; facilitating treatment; and implementing harm reduction strategies. These events, which featured individuals with lived experience, have spurred an increased dialogue and new collaborations, like the creation of the fentanyl toolkit—a valuable awareness and “train the trainer” resource.