PCAO Marks National Fentanyl Awareness Day
FLORENCE, AZ (May 7th, 2024) - The Pinal County Attorney's Office encourages all families to have tough conversations about the dangers and prevalence of fentanyl, as the powerful synthetic opioid is increasingly ravaging communities across the country.
Tuesday marks National Fentanyl Awareness Day, an opportunity to raise awareness about the drug, which is often found mixed into other pills and substances, and can lead to fatal overdoses. This also affects unsuspecting youth who take pills obtained or purchased on social media, unaware it contains fentanyl.
"Fentanyl is destroying our communities and it is as important as ever to have conversations with your loved ones, especially your children," said County Attorney Kent Volkmer. "We are committed to holding dealers accountable, but this is a collective community effort to reduce both supply and demand for this dangerous drug."
The prevalence of fentanyl is rapidly increasing across the country. The Pinal County Attorney's Office charged only nine fentanyl drug cases back in 2019, with that number surging to nearly 600 in 2023.
The Pinal County Attorney's Office has seen a sharp uptick in the number of fentanyl drug cases charged in each of the past five years:
2023: 582
2022: 300
2021: 150
2020: 52
2019: 09
Recently, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb joined County Attorney Volkmer on the 'Courtroom Chronicles' podcast to discuss fentanyl, and you can see that conversation below.
###
