Fentanyl Crisis
Our young people are dying and families are being torn apart by this crisis. Fentanyl, a cheap and easy to make synthetic opioid, is now the most common substance found in opioid overdose deaths. It is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Though we absolutely need to stop these dangerous drugs from coming across our borders; to tackle this deadly crisis in a meaningful way, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach that involves community, rehabilitative resources, mental health and substance use treatment providers, the medical community, families, law enforcement, schools and a sense of urgency.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, more than five people die every day from opioid overdoses in Arizona. These are preventable deaths. We need commonsense measures like increasing awareness about the access to overdose-reversing drugs like Naloxone (Narcan) as well as training to administer it. We need to increase public awareness about the deadliness of fentanyl and work together to prevent addiction where possible. As your Attorney General I will advocate at the Legislature and support proactive, evidence-based harm reduction strategies, such as the legalized syringe exchanges and fentanyl test strips which was signed into Arizona law in 2021 by Governor Ducey.
I will work with Attorneys General in other states to share best practices. I will continue to get the drugs off our streets, work collaboratively to stop them at the border as well as through the mail, while also recognizing the need for care and resources for those addicted as well as their families.
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