National Fentanyl Awareness Day highlights dangers of deadly drug

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – National Fentanyl Awareness Day is on Aug. 21, and it serves as a somber reminder of the ongoing crisis surrounding one of the most potent synthetic opioids in the U.S.

The day serves as an opportunity for families, community leaders, and healthcare advocates to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl—an extremely powerful drug that continues to claim lives across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while there’s been a drop in fentanyl use among younger people, the drug remains the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S.

For Elaine Hudson, the danger of fentanyl became heartbreakingly real on April 17, 2020—the day she lost her 20-year-old son, Frankie Deprima.

“I found my son, Frankie Deprima, dead in his room,” she said. “Somebody gave him an Xanax laced with fentanyl.”

Initially, his cause of death was unclear. But a search of his room revealed a baggie containing nine Xanax pills.

According to Hudson, the one pill Frankie took was the only one laced with fentanyl. The rest were mostly aspirin and Unisom.

“Frankie had six times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system,” she said.

Hudson didn’t even know what fentanyl was until she received the toxicology report. Now, she shares her story to warn others.

“Losing a child is the most painful thing. I can’t even explain what it feels like,” she said.

In Fresno, Flindt Andersen, the Executive Director of Pain—Parents and Addicts in Need, says fentanyl is unlike any other drug.

“It doesn’t matter what color somebody is, it doesn’t matter where you’re from… this drug has no boundaries,” Andersen said. “Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that’s made in a lab. We can make those synthetic drugs as powerful as we want.”

Andersen says fentanyl can be up to 50 times more powerful than heroin—and it continues to devastate communities of all backgrounds.

Despite the alarming trends, there are glimmers of hope. Preliminary data from the CDC shows a 25% decrease in overdose deaths compared to this time last year.

Still, for families like Hudson’s, every day is fentanyl awareness day.

“We’re continually trying to let everybody know that fentanyl is here—and it’s here to stay,” Andersen said.