A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> teenager has been charged with murder for allegedly dealing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> drugs to another teen which led to an overdose fatality.
Eighteen-year-old Alfred Urrea issued a non-guilty plea and is being held on a $1 million bail with a pre-preliminary hearing set for Tuesday. Adrian Alloway, another 18 year old, passed away from a fentanyl overdose at the end of August.
This is the second time San Bernardino County authorities have brought murder charges due to a fentanyl poisoning.
“In cases such as this, where murder is alleged, we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the dealer knowingly understood the dangers of fentanyl, and still chose profits over human life when supplying drugs to the victim,” District Attorney Jason Anderson <a href="https://sbcountyda.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2022/09/Urrea-Press-Release-Final-1.pdf">said</a>.
Fentanyl is a growing problem, especially among young people across the country.
In California, a 15-year-old girl <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-teen-charged-murder-providing-fentanyl-drug-overdose-victim">died</a> after taking a drug she thought was Percocet, but had fentanyl in it, leading to a manslaughter charge for another teen. A 14-year-old Californian also passed away this month following an overdose from drugs contaminated with fentanyl.
&#8220;This is a scourge and an epidemic that is going on across the country,&#8221; Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said after the 15-year-old’s death. &#8220;It is unacceptable, but it is even more unacceptable when it impacts the youth of our community. There is no excuse for that nor is there tolerance for that.&#8221;
This month, the California Department of Public Health Director and State Public Health Officer Tomás J. Aragón, <a href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/sapb/Pages/Rainbow-Fentanyl-Alert.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a warning over “brightly-colored fentanyl (referred to as rainbow fentanyl).”
Aragón’s release noted that opioid-related overdose fatalities in Californians ages 10-19 went up 407% from 2018 to 2020, and was “largely driven by fentanyl.” Fentanyl-related overdose fatalities among the same demographic went up 625% from 2018 to 2020.
Schools have responded, with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) providing <a href="https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">naloxone</a>, an opioid overdose reversal medication, to its schools. The move impacts almost 1,400 schools — from elementary to high school. School law enforcement officers will also be provided with the reversal medication. The action came after nine teenagers in the district recently overdosed.
&#8220;Research shows that the availability of naloxone along with overdose education is effective at decreasing overdoses and death and will save lives,&#8221; LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-unified-naxolone-schools-teens-overdose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement last week. &#8220;We will do everything in our power to ensure that not another student in our community is a victim to the growing opioid epidemic. Keeping students safe and healthy remains our highest priority.&#8221;
Country singer Luke Bell recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-star-luke-bells-cause-of-death-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> away from a fentanyl overdose, as well.

4F8B5A2D-0AB4-4935-847E-B4210A53EDE9_1_105_c

California Teen Charged With Murder Over Fentanyl Overdose Death

San Bernardino County California Teen Charged With Murder Over Fentanyl Overdose Death

California

Crime

Drugs

Fentanyl

Murder

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Gaetz</a> (R-FL) called for bombing Mexico Wednesday afternoon over the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> crisis that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.
Gaetz made the call for bombing Sinaloa, Mexico, home of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, on Twitter in response to remarks that he made during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.
&#8220;There has been discussion today of fentanyl. And it irks me every time I hear someone talk about fentanyl overdoses because no one overdoses on fentanyl because I don&#8217;t think anybody really sets out to, like, score some fentanyl for a good time,&#8221; Gaetz said. &#8220;I get why it&#8217;s hard to keep cocaine from coming into the country. People in the United States like using cocaine, they seek it out, they pay high dollar amounts for it. And so that would be something hard to stop. But since people don&#8217;t set out to use fentanyl, since it&#8217;s something we don&#8217;t want in our country, we should be totally capable of stopping it.&#8221;
&#8220;And the only reason we aren&#8217;t is because we purposefully allow our border to degrade, not by accident, not because of some lack of capability or some unsolvable problem set,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;But because there are some groups on the Right and Left who think that they will do better economically if we just let millions of people into the country and depress the wages of Americans, and the cost they&#8217;re willing to pay for that are the funerals and the deaths and the broken lives as a result of fentanyl poisoning. Because it is not an overdose. It is a poisoning that happens.&#8221;
Gaetz highlighted the clip on Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1572673870880186368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a>: &#8220;Bomb Sinaloa. Not kidding.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMattGaetz</a> exposes the truth behind the deadly fentanyl crisis in America and calls out those responsible. <a href="https://t.co/v9aOk4LFqc">https://t.co/v9aOk4LFqc</a> <a href="https://t.co/rhoUDsbApV">pic.twitter.com/rhoUDsbApV</a>
&mdash; Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) <a href="https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1572614186873810949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL) There has been discussion today of fentanyl. And it irks me every time I hear someone talk about fentanyl overdoses because no one overdoses on fentanyl because I don&#8217;t think anybody really sets out to, like, score some fentanyl for a good time. I get why it&#8217;s hard to keep cocaine from coming into the country. People in the United States like using cocaine, they seek it out, they pay high dollar amounts for it. And so that would be something hard to stop. But since people don&#8217;t set out to use fentanyl, since it&#8217;s something we don&#8217;t want in our country, we should be totally capable of stopping it. And the only reason we aren&#8217;t is because we purposefully allow our border to degrade, not by accident, not because of some lack of capability or some unsolvable problem set. But because there are some groups on the Right and Left who think that they will do better economically if we just let millions of people into the country and depress the wages of Americans, and the cost they&#8217;re willing to pay for that are the funerals and the deaths and the broken lives as a result of fentanyl poisoning. Because it is not an overdose. It is a poisoning that happens.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-issues-warning-over-emerging-trend-of-rainbow-fentanyl-across-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DEA Issues Warning Over ‘Emerging Trend’ Of Rainbow Fentanyl Across U.S.</a>

GOP Ohio Senate Candidate JD Vance Campaigns With Reps Gaetz And Greene

Matt Gaetz Calls For Bombing Mexico: ‘Not Kidding’

Matt Gaetz Calls For Bombing Sinaloa, Mexico, Over Fentanyl Crisis

Border Crisis

Matt Gaetz

Mexico

The cause of death for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/country-music">country star</a> Luke Bell has been revealed.
Bell, 32, was discovered dead after going missing for a week in Arizona. Now according to the autopsy report obtained by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/country-singer-luke-bell-cause-death-revealed">Fox News</a>, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">singer</a> reportedly died of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl">fentanyl</a> overdose. His death has been ruled an accident. 
The autopsy report further stated that Bell was found unresponsive by a passerby in a shaded area of a parking structure. Drug paraphernalia was at the scene.
&#8220;In consideration of the known circumstances surrounding this death, the available medical history, and the examination of the remains, the cause of death is ascribed to fentanyl intoxication,&#8221; the Pima County Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office shared in the report. &#8220;The manner of death is accident.&#8221;
Bell had been on vacation in Tucson with his friend, fellow country singer Matt Kinman, when he went missing. At the time it was reported that his disappearance may have had something to do with his bipolar disorder and the medication he took for it.
&#8220;We came down here to Arizona, to work down here, play some music, and he just took off,” Kinman said of the incident. “He was in the back of the truck. I went in to get something to eat. I came out, and he’d got out of the truck and left.&#8221;
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-music-star-found-dead-after-he-went-missing-for-a-week">reported</a> that Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1990 and was raised in Cody, Wyoming. He moved to Nashville and recorded a country album, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” in 2014.
Bell opened for some big-name country acts including Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and Dwight Yoakam.
The recording artist waxed poetic about a simple life during a 2016 interview. 
“That’s it,” Bell told The Boot at the time. “Listen, half the time, I end up drinking beer with my neighbors. Life’s not that bad.”
“The downside, in some ways, is I don’t have a wife and kids, but at the same time, it’s pretty ideal right now,” he continued. “I just travel around to other cities and hang out with other people. … The goal is to have high hopes and low expectations … and have a good time.”
Bell’s family shared in a statement on his death. 
&#8220;We have lost our beloved son, brother and friend and we are heartbroken,&#8221; his relatives told Fox News Digital just after he passed.
&#8220;Luke had a gentle heart, a wanderer’s spirit and a musical gift that he was fortunate to share with us and the world. We are so grateful to his friends and fans for embracing Luke and his music. We would like to thank all of Luke’s fans, friends and family who have been sharing stories and photos of happy times with him.&#8221;

2016 Stagecoach California’s Country Music Festival – Day 2

Country Star Luke Bell’s Cause Of Death Revealed

Country Star Luke Bell's Cause Of Death Revealed

Celebrities

Country Music

Entertainment

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california">California</a> teenager was arrested Friday on suspicion of allegedly possessing 150 fentanyl pills — disguised as Percocet — at a junior high school that caused a school supervisor to overdose from exposure, according to local reports.
Bakersfield Police Department authorities told <a href="https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/13-year-old-arrested-for-bringing-fentanyl-to-school/">17 News</a> that authorities placed a 13-year-old Chipman Junior High School student into custody after responding to reports around 9:05 a.m.
Authorities reported the student allegedly possessing the deadly drug had been in an altercation with another student, which led to the supervisor interjecting and searching the student&#8217;s bag.
Robert Pair, a spokesman for the police department, said the supervisor did not ingest the pills. However, the drugs are an &#8220;inhalation hazard.&#8221;
A Kern High School police officer immediately administered Narcan to the supervisor before transferring the official to a local hospital for treatment.
Bakersfield authorities said the supervisor is in stable condition.
Authorities charged the 13-year-old student with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of sales and taken to Juvenile Hall, KGET <a href="https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/13-year-old-arrested-for-bringing-fentanyl-to-school/">reports</a>.
It is unclear whether or not the highly addictive substances were sold or given to other students.
Officers also found $300 on the student.
Bakersfield City School District officials closed the school offices temporarily to prevent further risk to staff and faculty members after authorities arrested the teenager.
District officials warned parents and guardians to inform their children about the dangers of fentanyl and apologized to the school community.
&#8220;I urge parents, please be aware of your child&#8217;s behavior and what they bring to school each morning,&#8221; Superintendent Mark Luque said in a statement to <a href="https://www.bakersfield.com/news/junior-high-student-arrested-teacher-given-narcan-after-fentanyl-found-at-chipman/article_c12a2b1e-309c-11ed-bccf-b3c670f28294.html">The Californian</a>. &#8220;We live in a reality where our students have access to dangerous things.&#8221;
Luque commended the actions of Richard Aguilar, the campus supervisor exposed to the fentanyl, and Vice Principal Melissa Mabry, whose &#8220;immediate handling of this incident may have saved lives.&#8221;
Fentanyl is one of the strongest synthetic opioids in circulation; it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. A lethal dose of fentanyl is just two milligrams, roughly equal to 10-15 grains of table salt.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750022.html">reports</a> that methods of exposure to fentanyl can be absorbed into the body via inhalation, oral exposure or ingestion, or skin contact — with inhalation of fentanyl resulting in rapid absorption.
It is impossible to tell how much fentanyl is concentrated in a particular pill or powder sample. However, despite claims that some colors are more potent than others, DEA reported that lab testing indicated no such relationship between color and potency.
&#8220;Every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous,&#8221; the agency said.
Last month, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a formal warning to the public about the rise of candy-colored &#8220;rainbow fentanyl.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-issues-warning-over-emerging-trend-of-rainbow-fentanyl-across-u-s">reported</a> that the DEA warned the public to be aware of the &#8220;emerging trend&#8221; of colorful fentanyl pills becoming available nationwide. The drug is available in brightly colored pills, powder, and blocks that look like sidewalk chalk.
The DEA noted that drug overdoses are the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18-45.
John Rigolizzo contributed to this report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Arrestmade?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Arrestmade</a> please see attached press release for further details <a href="https://t.co/bd8ec7a6eB">pic.twitter.com/bd8ec7a6eB</a>
&mdash; Bakersfield Police (@bakersfieldpd) <a href="https://twitter.com/bakersfieldpd/status/1568346115212455937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Prescription Medication

‘Inhalation Hazard:’ California Teenager Arrested For Bringing Fentanyl To School Causing Supervisor To Overdose From Exposure

Drug Cartels

Opioid Crisis

A sheriff in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/idaho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Idaho</a> issued a grave warning to community members across the country about the dangers of rainbow <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a>.
Canyon County, Idaho, Sheriff Kieran Donahue warned Wednesday that rainbow-colored fentanyl, targeted specifically to young children, was pouring into his community from the southern border. Donahue said that the influx of drugs is &#8220;the tip of the iceberg&#8221; because authorities at the border do not have the resources or the manpower to contend with the border crisis.
&#8220;It is the tip of the iceberg,&#8221; Donahue said during an appearance on &#8220;<a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6311980441112#sp=show-clips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox and Friends First</a>&#8221; Wednesday. &#8220;We do not have the resources — throughout the United States, and specifically on the border — to stop and interdict the sheer amounts that are coming across that border, of fentanyl, and other drugs like heroin and methamphetamine. But the fentanyl is really the worst drug that we have seen on the streets. It&#8217;s unimaginable. None of us ever thought we&#8217;d be in this predicament, and its simply something that&#8217;s getting by us day in and day out, and we are simply not catching the vast majority of this stuff. Customs and Border Protection are doing a great job on the border, but they are so undermanned, when you look at the sheer amounts that the cartels are moving across and all the ways that they are moving them. We are truly under siege with this drug, and it&#8217;s an incredibly terrifying drug.&#8221;
Last week, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-issues-warning-over-emerging-trend-of-rainbow-fentanyl-across-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drug Enforcement Administration</a> issued a public service announcement containing a similar warning about the &#8220;emerging trend&#8221; of rainbow-colored fentanyl across the U.S.
&#8220;[T]his trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people,” DEA said. The announcement came days after authorities seized more than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rainbow-colored-fentanyl-pills-pouring-over-southern-border-hit-american-cities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15,000 brightly-colored fentanyl pills</a> at the port of entry in Nogales, Arizona. Nogales port director Michael W. Humphries said it was the second consecutive day that rainbow fentanyl had been found.
Idaho is just one of a growing number of states that are seeing the dangerous drug in their communities. Around the same time as the rainbow fentanyl pills were seized in Arizona, the Multnomah County, Oregon, sheriff’s office discovered several grams of the drug in the form of sidewalk chalk. In neighboring <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/northern-border-state-with-a-southern-border-problem-montana-reeling-as-fentanyl-seizures-skyrocket" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana</a>, the state seized 58 times more fentanyl in the first half of 2022 than it seized in the entire year 2019.
Fentanyl overdoses surged by 1,100% from 2017 to 2021, from four to 49; opioid-related emergency responses shot up 57% since 2021; and already this year, 34 Montanans were killed by fentanyl overdoses.
&#8220;It&#8217;s absolutely sickening,&#8221; Donahue continued. &#8220;[Rainow fentanyl pills] are on our radar. … They are pointed toward the children with these rainbow colors, we call them Skittles. Kids younger than teenagers, to teenagers, to young adults are using these, and of course little children thinking that they may be candy, like Sweet Tarts or Skittles. They could eat these, and they&#8217;re simply going to die from ingesting these pills.&#8221;
&#8220;This is focused for those children,&#8221; he added. &#8220;There&#8217;s no other way to explain it, why would you make these drugs in rainbow colors with no other reason than to attract a younger consumer group to make them addicts for life or unfortunately kill them in the process.&#8221;

Fentanyl-pills3

‘We Are Truly Under Siege’: Idaho Sheriff Issues Stark Warning About Deadly Rainbow Fentanyl Targeting Kids

'We Are Truly Under Siege': Idaho Sheriff Issues Stark Warning About Deadly Rainbow Fentanyl Targeting Kids

Fox News

Idaho

Sheriff

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a formal warning to the public about the rise of candy-colored &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainbow fentanyl</a>.&#8221;
In a public announcement Tuesday, the DEA warned the public to be aware of the &#8220;emerging trend&#8221; of colorful fentanyl pills becoming available across the nation. The drug is available in brightly colored pills, powder, and blocks that look like sidewalk chalk. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18-45, the DEA noted.
&#8220;The Drug Enforcement Administration is advising the public of an alarming emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available across the United States,&#8221; the DEA said in its <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/08/30/dea-warns-brightly-colored-fentanyl-used-target-young-americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;In August 2022, DEA and our law enforcement partners seized brightly-colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states. Dubbed &#8216;rainbow fentanyl&#8217; in the media, this trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people.&#8221;
On August 17, authorities at the port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, seized more tan 15,000 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rainbow-colored-fentanyl-pills-pouring-over-southern-border-hit-american-cities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brightly-colored fentanyl pills</a> strapped to a person&#8217;s leg, as The Daily Wire reported. The day before, authorities seized more than 250,000 candy-colored pills, along with 11 pounds of heroin and 10 pounds of methamphetamine.
DEA officials in Washington, D.C., also seized similar-looking pills over the course of the past 18 months. The Multnomah County, Oregon, Sheriff’s Office found several grams of rainbow fentanyl in the shape of sidewalk chalk recently as well. The DEA noted that fentanyl is primarily trafficked by two criminal networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in the agency&#8217;s press release. “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”
Fentanyl is one of the strongest synthetic opioids in circulation; it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. A lethal dose of fentanyl is just two milligrams, roughly equal to 10-15 grains of table salt. It is impossible to tell how much fentanyl is concentrated in a particular pill or powder sample. DEA reported that, despite claims that some colors are more potent than others, lab testing indicated no such relationship between color and potency. &#8220;Every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous,&#8221; the agency said.
Data from the CDC showed that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/record-number-of-americans-died-from-drug-overdoses-in-2021-cdc-data-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">107,622 Americans</a> died of overdoses in 2021 — the largest number on record.
Synthetic opioids accounted for a large share of the deaths, The New York Times reported. Seventy-one thousand deaths resulted from drug overdoses in 2021. Furthermore, the nonprofit advocacy group <a href="https://twitter.com/FafFentanyl/status/1471270179783032833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1471270179783032833%7Ctwgr%5Ecf90932c508511b3fe9058bac9bdd09589252ce9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fkrcrtv.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fdeadly-fight-against-fentanyl-in-shasta-county" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Families Against Fentanyl</a> tweeted in December that buried in the CDC data is the fact that fentanyl specifically was the leading killer of Americans in the 18-45 age range.
The DEA instructs the public not to handle fentanyl in any form, but to call 911 immediately if one encounters it.

DEA Issues Warning Over ‘Emerging Trend’ Of Rainbow Fentanyl Across U.S.

DEA Issues Warning Over 'Emerging Trend' Of Rainbow Fentanyl Across U.S.

Children

Southern Border

It may be a northern state, but Montana is groaning over the record amounts of fentanyl flooding over the Southern border.
In the first six months of this year, Montana law enforcement <a href="https://dojmt.gov/ag-knudsen-new-data-show-fentanyl-is-top-public-safety-threat-in-montana/">seized</a> 58 times more fentanyl than they seized in all of 2019. The state&#8217;s Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces seized nearly 112,000 fentanyl doses, and that doesn&#8217;t even include fentanyl seized by other law enforcement across the state. In comparison, over 60,000 doses were seized last year and only 1,900 dosage units were seized in 2019.
&#8220;It&#8217;s growing exponentially, and it&#8217;s a massive crisis devastating with honestly deadly consequences,&#8221; Montana Republican Governor Greg Gianforte told The Daily Wire in an interview.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is cheap to make and easily transported, is about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Because it is often cut with other drugs, users may often be unaware that they are consuming the powerful substance, which can be deadly even in small doses. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 42% of pills tested for fentanyl contained a potentially lethal dose.
Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 45, <a href="https://www.wral.com/fentanyl-overdose-becomes-leading-cause-of-death-for-adults-age-18-to-45/20200135/">according</a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the year that ended October 2021, nearly 106,000 people died from drug overdoses, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm">according</a> to the CDC, a surge largely driven by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
In Montana, 34 people have already died this year from fentanyl overdoses, with dozens more deaths suspected, <a href="https://dojmt.gov/ag-knudsen-new-data-show-fentanyl-is-top-public-safety-threat-in-montana/">according</a> to the Montana Justice Department. Last year, fatal fentanyl overdoses in Montana spiked 1,100% since 2017 from four to 49. Since 2021, opioid-related emergency medical responses have spiked 57%.
As overdoses tick up across the state, Montana officials and law enforcement are pleading with the Biden administration to do something about the porous U.S.-Mexico border, which they blame for the deadly crisis.
&#8220;Even though we&#8217;re 1,200 miles away from the southern border, I can tell you we&#8217;re a northern border state with a southern border problem,&#8221; said Gianforte. &#8220;It&#8217;s just ripping our communities apart,&#8221;
More and more, Mexican cartels are manufacturing fentanyl for distribution in the U.S., importing the chemical precursors for fentanyl production from China and turning them into pills and powder at &#8220;massive, industrial-scale labs,&#8221; <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/fentanyl-seizures-border-continue-spike-making-san-diego-national-epicenter-fentanyl">according</a> to the Justice Department. In recent weeks, law enforcement across the country has been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/mon-metro-drug-task-force-seizes-rainbow-fentanyl">on alert</a> for a creative new version of the deadly drug dubbed &#8220;rainbow fentanyl,&#8221; which resembles candy.
In July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-july-2022-monthly-operational-update">seized</a> 2,100 pounds of fentanyl, more than 200% more than the 640 pounds the agency seized in June.
Mexican cartels have in the past used the migrant crisis to overwhelm and distract Border Patrol agents as they smuggle drugs across the border, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/mexican-cartels-using-border-migrant-crisis-to-distract-u-s-agents-from-drug-smuggling-u-s-drug-czar">according</a> to James Carroll, the Trump administration&#8217;s drug czar.
Last fall, Gianforte visited the southern border in Texas with nine other governors. Afterwards, the 10 governors asked the Biden administration for a meeting and sent over a 10-point <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2021/10/governor-ducey-fellow-governors-outline-plan-biden-resolve-border-crisis">plan</a> to secure the border and combat the drug crisis.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t gotten a return phone call,&#8221; Gianforte said.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has moved to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/after-court-win-biden-again-tries-end-trump-remain-mexico-program-2022-08-09/">axe</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-immigration-government-and-politics-5c7bb29c829d7f0711b23f9beb18755d">two</a> Trump-era policies, Title 42, which allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants due to the COVID pandemic, and the &#8220;Remain in Mexico&#8221; policy, which made asylum-seekers wait in Mexico while their cases are pending.
Last week, Gianforte <a href="https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Gov_Gianforte_to_Pres_Biden_Stop_Fentanyl_Secure_the_Border">held</a> a press conference along Highway 191 in the Gallatin Valley, a drug trafficking hotspot, to again urge the Biden administration to take action to stanch the flow of fentanyl from Mexico.
&#8220;I consider fentanyl truly the number one threat to Montana,&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXy7JO9ppk&amp;t=180s">said</a> Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen at the press conference.
&#8220;This is an absolute poison that is tearing our communities and our state apart,&#8221; Knudsen said, adding that he recently spoke with one woman who has lost two sons in two separate fentanyl overdoses and is now raising her grandchildren from both sons.
Montana has worked to combat its addiction crisis with the HEART Fund, which invests $25 million a year in behavioral health and treatment programs, as well as the Angel Initiative, a program to allow addicts to walk into a law enforcement office and get connected with treatment.
With Mexican cartels operating within Montana and a &#8220;tsunami of drugs&#8221; coming in though, the state has struggled to control the crisis, according to Gianforte.
Even Amtrak is involved.
&#8220;They throw it out the windows and then on their cell phone call a local mule to go pick up the package along the tracks,&#8221; Gianforte said.
Gianforte also estimated that drugs are responsible for as much as 90% of Montana&#8217;s violent crime.
&#8220;Ultimately, a country without a border is no country at all. We must secure the southern border,&#8221; Gianforte said. &#8220;This should not be a political issue. We are losing lives. Families are being ripped apart.&#8221;
In April, Gianforte and 25 other governors <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2022/04/governor-ducey-25-governors-commit-coordinated-effort-secure-united-states">formed</a> the American Governors’ Border Strike Force, which works to secure the border and combat drug trafficking in the absence of more federal action.

Supervised consumption sites in the DTES give addicts who use fentanyl, opioids, crystal methamphetamine and other drugs a place to use

‘Northern Border State With A Southern Border Problem’: Montana Reeling As Fentanyl Seizures Skyrocket

Montana Has Seized 58 Times More Fentanyl In 2022 Than It Did In All Of 2019

Montana

Authorities at the southern border seized approximately 1.6 million fentanyl pills and other lethal drugs concealed inside metal boxes hidden underneath the floor and various trap doors of an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer Saturday at the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Port Director Michael W. Humphries said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/CBPPortDirNOG/status/1561745573727707137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1561745573727707137%7Ctwgr%5E35c7d1cd53fd77a2ad4af657595721179b3a23e0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fpolicy%2Fhealthcare%2F1-57-million-fentanyl-pills-drugs-found-trailer-mexico-border">tweet</a> that a &#8220;massive amount of fentanyl pills&#8221; and other narcotics like cocaine and heroin were found and confiscated before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Saturday&#8217;s seizure comes only days after Nogales agents <a href="https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/candy-colored-fentanyl-pills-seized-at-arizona-ports-of-entry/75-84d64c9f-445d-48e9-ae1c-b485409e3811">blocked</a> about 265,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills resembling candy and sidewalk chalk.
The synthetic opioid, typically used to treat patients with chronic pain or following surgeries, has 100 times the potency of morphine, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials <a href="https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl">said</a>. But with the amount of illegally produced fentanyl manufactured in clandestine labs, smugglers at the southern border have fueled a crisis that authorities have called &#8220;an epidemic hidden by the pandemic.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s no question in my mind that the vast majority of chemicals are coming from China and going into Mexico and being mass produced into fentanyl and methamphetamine and increasingly into the counterfeit pills that we see on our streets,&#8221; Anne Milgram, an administrator with the DEA <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2awPPVKmpRQ">said</a> during a press conference last year.
In 2021, DEA officials busted over 9.5 million counterfeit pills, with 40% containing a lethal dose in Arizona, <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/fentanyl-entering-us-through-southern-border-at-unprecedented-levels-rep-higgins_4539265.html">according</a> to The Epoch Times.
According to the CDC, synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.
Border patrol agents <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fentanyl-seizures-southern-border-jumped-200-percent-july">reported</a> that fentanyl seizures increased by over 200% last month. U.S. lawmakers are urging local, state, and federal officials to confront the crisis.
The Epoch Times spoke to Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) in June, who said &#8220;without abusing law enforcement jurisdictional authority, without abusing sovereignty, [and] without abusing rights,&#8221; the country has to work together to stop the influx of fentanyl crossing the border.
&#8220;It all has to be done while operating within the parameters of the law and the Constitution,&#8221; Higgins said. &#8220;We have lost operational control of the southern border months ago, and fentanyl is entering the country at unprecedented levels—and there&#8217;s no end in sight.&#8221;
Higgins, who showed support for <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6439/all-info">legislation</a> that would make fentanyl trafficking punishable by life in prison, blames the crisis on weak border policies where some migrants are &#8220;likely plugged into a criminal network,&#8221; allowing millions of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to spread into &#8220;ever nook and cranny of the country.&#8221;
The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Health last at the beginning of the year.

Big Rig Hiding Over 1.5 Million Fentanyl Pills Seized By Border Patrol Agents

Big Rig Hiding 1.6 Million Fentanyl Pills Seized By Border Patrol Agents

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Democratic Governor of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> Gavin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gavin-newsom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsom</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ZavalaA/status/1561842464050200577" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vetoed</a> a bill that would have allowed alleged safe drug injection sites in a number of cities in California. 
The bill, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB57" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SB57</a>, would have allowed local governments in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland to “approve entities within their jurisdictions to establish and operate overdose prevention programs” that meet certain requirements. 
Such programs have been promoted by progressive groups who believe such centers would help cut down on drug overdoses. 
Laura Guzman, a senior director at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Gov-Newsom-vetoes-bill-allowing-supervised-drug-17390653.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle that proponents would be “enraged” if the bill was not signed by the governor. She viewed a veto as a “policy failure” to save lives.
State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat who introduced the bill, said prior to the veto that Newsom vetoing it would deliver a “negative, toxic message to the rest of the country about where progressive California is on drug use and addiction and overdoses and the war on drugs.”
Nonetheless, Newsom <a href="https://twitter.com/louismirante/status/1561843544641261569" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did</a> just that. 
In a letter to members of the Senate, he <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/SB-57-veto-msg-August-22-2022.pdf?emrc=435330" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he was “returning Senate Bill 57 without my signature.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Governor Newsom vetoes SB 57 (Wiener) on allowing safe consumption sites <a href="https://t.co/OYt5zDt8nM">pic.twitter.com/OYt5zDt8nM</a>
&mdash; Louis Mirante (@louismirante) <a href="https://twitter.com/louismirante/status/1561843544641261569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I have long supported the cutting edge of harm reduction strategies. However, I am acutely concerned about the operations of safe injection sites without strong, engaged local leadership and well-documented, vetted, and thoughtful operational and sustainability plans,” the governor wrote. 
He said the unlimited amount of sites that the bill would allow “could induce a world of unintended consequences.” He added that he is telling the Secretary of Health and Human Services to bring together city and county authorities to talk about the best ways to run overdose prevention programs. When the authorities return to the Legislature with guidelines “for a truly limited pilot program,” Newsom said he “remain[s] open to this discussion.”
<div dir="ltr">“We are grateful Governor Newsom vetoed SB 57. While we endorse the goal of preventing overdose deaths, lawmakers must remember, ‘First, do no harm.’” California Family Council President Jonathan Keller said in an email press release to The Daily Wire. “State-sanctioned drug dens would lead to more death and devastation. We should love our neighbors, not surrender them to addiction. As Christians, we believe there is always hope for anyone to change.”</div>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/san-francisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco’s</a> injection site, Tenderloin Linkage Center, is set to shut down in December. In January, when the center opened, 48 people overdosed in San Francisco, a figure which remained around the same in the months to follow, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-passes-bill-for-more-safe-drug-use-sites-after-san-franciscos-failed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
Jacqui Berlinn’s son is addicted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> and is living on the San Francisco streets. She co-founded Mother’s Against Drug Deaths and does not support safe injection sites. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s really frustrating to me because I feel like we are normalizing drug use with our children. They are seeing this all around them and specially with safe consumption sites it&#8217;s going to bring more addicts into the area,&#8221; Berlinn <a href="https://abc7news.com/safe-injection-sites-california-sb-57-newsom-sf-drug-site/12096838/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, per ABC7 News, adding, &#8220;They are building this community of &#8216;it&#8217;s okay to use all the time&#8217; and I&#8217;m not trying to stigmatize anybody, but the drugs that are on our streets are so deadly that it shouldn&#8217;t be okay.&#8221;

4AB5FD0B-4ACA-4A24-B237-AEA768CB165E_1_201_a

Newsom Vetoes Bill That Would Have Allowed Drug Injection Sites In Certain Areas

Democratic Governor Of California Gavin Newsom Vetoes Bill Allowing Drug Injection Sites In Los Angeles, San Francisco, And Oakland

Gavin Newsom

Los Angeles

Oakland

San Francisco

Rainbow-colored <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> pills resembling candy and sidewalk chalk pouring over the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southern-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">southern border</a> are plaguing cities nationwide.
Over 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills that look like a small piece of candy were seized Wednesday after authorities found the deadly drugs strapped around a person&#8217;s leg at the Nogales Port of Entry for the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.
Port Director Michael W. Humphries <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://twitter.com/CBPPortDirNOG/status/1560278391332360198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1560278391332360198%7Ctwgr%5E35ae0c38acbe9a72eb5617625bfc80a636c1e3f7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fus%2Fthousands-rainbow-fentanyl-pills-seized-authorities-warn-possible-new-trend-targeting-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the discovery marks the second consecutive day that such pills were found.
Authorities believe the multi-colored pills may be the start of a trend with Transnational Criminal Organizations targeting children.
Humphries <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://twitter.com/CBPPortDirNOG/status/1560004375841452033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1560004375841452033%7Ctwgr%5Ed9e3d00acf1bc7537e14ea1e9727826e95352ddf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedenverchannel.com%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fauthorities-issue-warning-about-rainbow-fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that border patrol agents at the same port of entry found more than 250,000 fentanyl candy-colored pills the day before inside a vehicle, along with 11 pounds of heroin, and 10 pounds of methamphetamine.
Nogales border patrol agents seized more than 1.1 million fentanyl pills from July 31 through August 7.
&#8220;Officers made sure these dangerous narcotics won&#8217;t make it to U.S. cities,&#8221; Humphries said.
However, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials said they had seized similar-looking pills in the D.C. region over the last 18 months.
&#8220;My biggest concern, and I think the biggest concern of DEA nationwide, is that the pills seem to be marketed specifically to a younger age group,&#8221; Jennifer Lofland, field intelligence manager for the Washington division, <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dea-reports-finding-rainbow-fentanyl-pills-in-dc-region">told</a> Fox 5 D.C.
Lofland urged parents to warn their children to never take a pill unless prescribed by a doctor, especially considering there is no way to know how potent the drug might be that&#8217;s laced with fentanyl.
&#8220;Some of the multi-colored pills that we&#8217;ve been testing in our labs recently, particularly a recent batch that appeared to be children&#8217;s chewable vitamins, were tested by our lab as containing both fentanyl and methamphetamine,&#8221; Lofland said.
&#8220;And so that is just an added layer of danger,&#8221; she said, adding that the agency has found an increasing number of animal tranquilizers added to the pills.
Newsweek <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.newsweek.com/rainbow-fentanyl-may-target-kids-drug-spreads-west-coast-officials-1734597" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that the Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office in Oregon recently found several grams of rainbow fentanyl that resembles sidewalk chalk at a residence, and has warned that the new form is considered more potent than pressed pills.
&#8220;Deputies are particularly concerned about rainbow fentanyl getting into the hands of young adults or children, who mistake the drug for something else, such as candy or a toy, or those who may be willing to try the drug due to its playful coloring,&#8221; the sheriff&#8217;s office said.
Kelly Sloop, a pharmacist and executive director of the Need 4 Narcan organization, told Newsweek that the new pill style is used because drug dealers and cartels want to reinvent the wheel to find another means of appealing to kids and young adults.
&#8220;And if you actually look at it, it does have the consistency of sidewalk chalk but it kind of looks like a taffy, saltwater taffy, and it is very appealing because it does look like candy,&#8221; Sloop said.
&#8220;If we don&#8217;t continue to stay up to date and continue to raise drug awareness, children and young adults will find this appealing and can get their hands on this and overdose, because they will not know how potent this fentanyl really is, because it does not take much at all to overdose on fentanyl.&#8221;

Rainbow-Colored Fentanyl Pills Pouring Over Southern Border Hit American Cities

Portland

Washington D.C.

William “Billy” Miller was <a href="https://www.wtnh.com/news/family-alleges-yale-new-haven-hospital-left-man-alone-for-seven-hours-to-die-in-hallway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left alone</a> in a hallway for seven hours — allegedly unattended and untreated — at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he died last year at the age of 23.
Miller&#8217;s mother has <a href="https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Lawsuit-Man-dies-after-being-left-unattended-at-17379835.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a lawsuit</a> in Superior Court, saying that the hospital staffers were negligent in their duties. &#8220;They untreated him to death,&#8221; Tina Darnsteadt explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
While in an ambulance, a 23-year-old man called his mom, explained what had happened to him and said he was feeling OK, a lawsuit says.
Hours later, he was found dead at a Yale hospital.<a href="https://t.co/OXe3x9QiC5">https://t.co/OXe3x9QiC5</a>
&mdash; Connecticut Post (@connpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/connpost/status/1560274548276072449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to both authorities and family members, Miller had initially been treated by firefighters after ingesting a white powder that he thought might have been laced with fentanyl. The East Haven Fire Department had responded to a call at 6:25 p.m. on May 10, 2021 from Peter’s Rock Association Park, and they were already treating Miller with naloxone (Narcan) — which is used to combat potential opioid overdoses — when an ambulance arrived.
The ambulance transported Miller to Yale-New Haven Hospital then — in spite of the fact that he was reportedly &#8220;walking, talking, and alert&#8221; at the time — because the effects of opioid toxicity can recur very quickly and they wanted to make sure he was under observation. He reportedly called his mother from the ambulance to tell her that he was all right. He arrived at the hospital at 7:13 p.m.
According to the lawsuit, from that point until 1:56 a.m., Miller was not evaluated by hospital staffers. Surveillance footage showed him getting up from the stretcher several times — to use the bathroom and to get something to eat — and using the phone, after which point he looked as though he had fallen asleep.
At 1:56 a.m., a nurse found Miller unresponsive and without a pulse, and according to the lawsuit, by then he had clearly &#8220;been in full cardiac arrest for an unknown period of time.&#8221;
&#8220;The next morning, we called the hospital for an update but we couldn’t get any details,” she said. “My last conversation with Billy he said everything was going to be OK and he would see me tomorrow but tomorrow has never come for us,&#8221; Darnsteadt said.
The family&#8217;s attorney, Sean McElligott, added, &#8220;This young man’s death was completely avoidable. The hospital failed to provide him with the most basic medical care. This should never happen. Billy’s death was tragic and his family and loved ones are devastated by the utter lack of care provided at the hospital. I will work hard to make sure nothing like this happens to another family.&#8221;
Hospital officials confirmed that they are aware of the lawsuit, adding, &#8220;Even in the best organizations gaps in care may occur. When they do, our goal is to acknowledge them, learn from them, and ensure that we minimize any chance that they ever occur again.&#8221;

US – Ebola – Yale Student tested for Ebola Virus at New Haven Hospital

‘They Untreated Him To Death’: Lawsuit Alleges 23-Year-Old Was Left Alone For 7 Hours In Yale Hospital ER

Lawsuit Alleges 23-Year-Old Was Left Alone To Die For 7 Hours In Yale Hospital ER

Yale

A new California bill headed to the governor&#8217;s desk would expand taxpayer-funded &#8220;safe&#8221; drug use sites across the state despite the failure of a pilot site in San Francisco.
California Democrats passed the bill last week, which would allow San Francisco, nearby Oakland, and Los Angeles to set up new supervised drug use sites, which will run for five years through January 2028.
The so-called “safe injection” sites are aimed at reducing overdoses, but critics say they have a poor track record of success.
The <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB57">bill</a>, Senate Bill 57, passed in the state Senate, with just 21 Democrats and zero Republicans voting for it, but it was enough to send it to Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Newsom has not commented publicly about whether he will sign the bill. However, during his campaign in 2018 Newsom said he was “very very open” to the concept of safe injection sites. 
The new sites would allow addicts to inject or smoke their illegal drugs in a sterile environment with clean drug paraphernalia in hopes of reducing the spread of diseases like hepatitis and HIV as well as preventing overdoses from illegal drugs like heroin, meth, and fentanyl. 
Selling drugs is supposed to be prohibited at the sites.
Critics say that San Francisco&#8217;s experiment with a safe injection site was not successful and that the program should not be expanded to other cities. 
San Francisco originally launched its flagship &#8220;safe&#8221; injection site as the Tenderloin Linkage Center in the Tenderloin District. The neighborhood is known for being flooded with drug dealers and struggling with homelessness and violence. 
Mayor London Breed <a href="https://sfist.com/2021/12/17/breed-declares-state-of-emergency-in-tenderloin-over-nasty-streets/">said</a> the neighborhood is in a state of emergency when it comes to drug addiction and started the center in an attempt to curb overdoses and help addicts get treatment, but the numbers have not changed much. 
In January, the month the center opened, 48 people overdosed in San Francisco, and that number <a href="https://sf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/2022%2005_OCME%20Overdose%20Report.pdf">stayed</a> about the same in the following months. Nearly 50,000 people <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/sf-tenderloin-center-drops-linkage-from-its-name/">used</a> the center between January and May, but only 163 people were referred to substance abuse treatment and only 38 were connected to treatment between the end of January and mid-May, according to Kron4. 
The city changed the name of the Tenderloin Linkage Center to the Tenderloin Center, and city officials said the center was focusing on providing basic services and reducing fatal overdoses.
In December, the city is slated to <a href="https://sfist.com/2022/06/16/the-tenderloin-formerly-known-as-linkage-center-to-shut-down-at-the-end-of-the-year/">shut down</a> the center, which is estimated to have cost the city about $<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11077587/California-state-senate-passes-bill-allowing-open-air-drug-sites-California.html">19 million</a>. 
The governor is facing pressure from Democrats to sign the bill as it is a longtime wishlist item for the progressive base in California.
&#8220;Drug addiction is a health issue, not a criminal issue,&#8221; Democrat State Sen. Scott Weiner <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/california-bill-safe-consumption-sites/2974043/">said</a> Wednesday, according to NBC Bay Area.
&#8220;The status quo is filling our prisons and our morgues,&#8221; said Oakland Democrat Mayor Libby Schaaf, according to the outlet.
Both Democrats claimed the bill will save taxpayer dollars.
Meanwhile, Republicans are urging Newsom to veto the legislation.
“This dangerous measure endangers neighborhoods, communities, and businesses,” <a href="https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2022/08/02/republicans-in-state-senate-call-on-gov-newsom-to-veto-bill-allowing-drug-dens/">said</a> Republican state Sen. Brian Jones, according to the Time of Sand Diego. “Allowing people to get higher than a kite on heroin and other dangerous drugs, then turning them loose afterwards onto the streets is just crazy.”

London Breed, mayor of San Francisco, day in the life

California Passes Bill For More ‘Safe’ Drug Use Sites After San Francisco’s Failed

California Passes Bill For More 'Safe' Drug Use Sites After San Francisco's Failed

Menu