BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On Tuesday, the Adventist Health Network in Kern County held a special event at the Adventist Health location in downtown Bakersfield with the goal of ending the stigma associated with substance abuse, and improving access for those seeking treatment.
Wednesday is National Overdose Awareness Day, and on Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 367. The bill, written by Senator Melissa Hurtado, will require California colleges to distribute naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdose, and to provide training in how to administer it in campus orientation materials.
Even with these actions, officials at the local, state, and federal level are warning about opioids, particularly a recent dangerous trend known as 'rainbow fentanyl.' There is a major concern about dealers using it to target teens.
In Oakland, a non-profit called FentCheck is tracking it. That group, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, say they're seeing rainbow fentanyl in two forms: Both as a powder that looks like sidewalk chalk, and as brightly colored pills.
Even small amounts of fentanyl can be deadly, and FentCheck says the powder is particular dangerous because it is often one hundred percent pure.
Alison Heller, co-founder of FentCheck, says even users are cautious about ensuring they aren't taking fentanyl unawares.
"It has been interesting. We've heard young people have been going to the bars that we work with, being very polite and upfront, saying 'I am underage, I am not here to drink,'" says Heller.
According to the CDC, nearly 70,000 people have died from opioid drug overdoses nationwide. More than 53,000 of those deaths were in California, more than any other state.
