Maricopa County Attorney's Office to host panel about fentanyl in Glendale
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misspelled Kim Humphrey's name.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office will be hosting a panel on Tuesday evening in Glendale to discuss the fentanyl crisis.
The one-hour question and answer panel will be from 6-7 p.m. at Independence High School, according to a news release. Those who will attend include Maricopa County Attorney's Office experts, the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Community Bridges and the Glendale Police Department.
Kim Humphrey, director of Parents of Addicted Loved Ones, will testify. His children are recovering drug addicts, according to the release.
Community members, especially parents of teenagers from anywhere in Maricopa County, were encouraged to attend the panel.
'Fentazona': How cheap, illicit fentanyl is fueling Arizona's opioid crisis
"A recent Arizona youth survey found that 50% of eighth-graders do not know what fentanyl is. Ingesting or smoking one fentanyl pill can be lethal," the release states.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most opioid overdoses are linked to fentanyl that's illegally manufactured by drug traffickers.
In 2017 there were 923 opioid overdose deaths in Arizona, or an average of two deaths per day. By 2021, the number of opioid overdose deaths in the state had more than doubled to 2,006 deaths, or an average of five deaths per day.
"Two out of five counterfeit pills that come across our border are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl. These drugs are being marketed to our youth in the most proliferous ways and as parents and teens, they must be aware of just how dangerous fentanyl can be,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in the MCAO release.
Spanish speakers attending the panel can also receive information and ask questions in Spanish as there will be translators available.
"To reach more people, the panel will have two people who will simultaneously translate the information that the experts give so that those who speak Spanish can obtain all the necessary information about fentanyl," Karla Navarrete-Contreras, a spokesperson for the MCAO, said.
Republic reporter Nadia Cantú contributed to this article.
Reach breaking news reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at Angela.CordobaPerez@Gannett.com or on Twitter @AngelaCordobaP.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa County Attorney's Office to host panel about fentanyl
