'Every Alaskan is a stakeholder': Fentanyl Awareness Day 2024

August 21st marked National Fentanyl Awareness Day, a day set aside to remember loved ones lost to overdoses involving illegally made fentanyl and acknowledge the devastation of affected families and friends.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl contribute to nearly 70% of overdose deaths. Over the last few years, nonfatal and fatal overdoses involving fentanyl have continued to rise. Counterfeit pills, often containing illegally made fentanyl, are increasingly involved in overdose deaths. Illegal drugs and counterfeit pills can contain deadly levels of fentanyl without a person's knowledge, increasing the risk of overdose or death. Fentanyl is commonly mixed with drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and can be made into pills that resemble other prescription opioids.

“Every Alaskan is a stakeholder and can help spread the word to save lives,” says Michael Carson, Vice Chairman of MyHouse and Recovery Specialist/Co-Chair of Mat-Su Opioid Task Force

Earlier this year, Governor Mike Dunleavy and Senator Dan Sullivan kicked off the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign to help combat the increase in fentanyl-related deaths across Alaska and the country.

“Alaska is under attack,” Senator Sullivan said in May. “The DEA estimates that 7 out of every 10 pills that they seize contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. Think about that. It’s shocking. Scary. And it’s why this campaign is needed.”

The campaign comes after the State of Alaska released preliminary data demonstrating that more Alaskans died of drug overdoses in 2023 than in any previously recorded year. The public awareness campaign examines where fentanyl is coming from, where and how it is being sold, the dangers of the drug, how it impacts Alaska communities, and the resources that are available for treatment, prevention, and reporting criminal activity.

“When looking at the preliminary numbers for calendar year 2023, Alaska experienced 342 overdose deaths for the year, with almost three-quarters involving fentanyl,” said Lindsey Kato, Director of the Alaska Division of Public Health. “These devastating consequences are related to the rise in fentanyl across Alaska highlight the need for us to work even more closely with our communities and our partners.”

National awareness to the lethality of fentanyl seems to be working as provisional data from the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023—a decrease of 3% from the 111,029 deaths estimated in 2022. This is the first annual decrease in drug overdose deaths since 2018.

Governor Dunleavy has also taken on the fentanyl and opioid crisis by signing HB 66 into law this year, which treats the sale or manufacture of certain drugs that cause death as second-degree murder.

“HB 66 is crucial in the continuing efforts to make Alaska the best place to raise a family. By closing loopholes, narrowing in on the fentanyl crisis,” said the Governor in July, when he signed the bill into law.

“I strongly believe it will take ‘all hands on deck’ to turn the tide on this horrible opioid epidemic that has taken so many Alaskan lives… We have to move faster to raise awareness and especially educate our parents, children and community members with prevention strategies,” said Carson.