By Mary O’KEEFE

California began the year with “enhanced focus to combat the scourge of illegal fentanyl trafficking, the state has now supported the seizure of nearly 22,000 pounds and more than 37 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of nearly $300 million,” according to a release from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

Through the state’s Counter Drug Task Force, the California National Guard Task Force members have been deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat the illegal trafficking of narcotics like fentanyl. 

Detective Guillermo Jimenez, Glendale Police Dept. (GPD), said the age range they see in Glendale of fentanyl users is from 18 to 50 years old. 

He added that GPD is not seeing a lot of high school users of fentanyl “just yet” but they have seen a few. 

“When we contact people we talk to them just to get a better sense of how they got started,” he said. 

What GPD has found is that several people use the drug for recreational use, but they also see people who get used to taking a prescription opioid after an injury. 

“Once that prescription runs out, they still need it so they look to the street …they look to the black market,” he said. “And we’re starting to see the cartels that want to get their cut, they want to keep their customers. That’s why I think there’s a flood of these imitation opioid pills that are flooding the streets because they know [they’re] so addictive.”

These pills are made by people who are not chemists and therefore there is no control of how much fentanyl is in each pill. 

There has been a decrease in drug overdose deaths and poisonings across the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there was a 14.5% decrease in deaths between June 2023 and June 2024. 

“Multiple factors contribute to the drop in overdose deaths, including widespread data-driven distribution of naloxone, which is a life saving medication that can reverse an overdose,” according to the CDC. 

Narcan is the brand name of naloxone, and is a nose spray that can be administrated to those who appear to be overdosing on opioids like fentanyl. 

So even though the number of overdoses is decreasing that does not necessarily mean that drug use is down, which is why ongoing education is so important. 

Next time CVW will look at local organizations and rehabilitation centers are working to educate and stop the misuse of opioids.