HOUSTON – Before the overdose, Gregory Blodgett and Irene Sunderland were seniors at The Woodlands High School. Blodget, 17, and Sunderland, 18, died last year overdosing on Fentanyl.
Joshua Gillihan, a 14-year-old high school freshman living in Cypress, was found with fentanyl in his system after taking what his mother said he believed was either an Oxycodone or a Percocet pill.
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Unfortunately, these types of cases are devastating families more often. In 2021, fentanyl was involved in the vast majority of all teen overdose deaths – 84 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related adolescent overdose deaths nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021. And nearly a quarter of those deaths involved counterfeit pills that weren’t prescribed by a doctor.
In 2022, the Houston office of the Drug Enforcement Administration said it seized enough fatal doses of fentanyl to kill every person in the greater Houston area. This is in addition to the 674,000 counterfeit pills seized by the office last year.
“The increase in fentanyl that we’ve seen over the last year or so has been monumental,” said Jamie Vasquez, assoc. director of the DEA’s regional lab in Dallas. “Just two milligrams can cause a potential death.”
In response to the growing number of youth overdose deaths in Texas, Senate Bill 629 was passed, which requires all public school districts “to adopt and implement a policy regarding the maintenance, administration, and disposal of opioid antagonists (like Narcan) at each campus in the district that serves students in grades 6 through 12,” according to a bill analysis.
To help prevent the deaths of our teens due to overdoses, here are some resources and tips to help fight the fentanyl crisis:
Signs of an overdose:
- Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”
- Face is extremely pale and/or feels cold or clammy to the touch
- Body goes limp
- Fingernails or lips have a purple or blue color
- Vomiting or making gurgling noises
- Cannot be awakened or unable to speak
- Breathing or heartbeat slows or stops
How to save a life:
- Call 911 right away
- Try to wake the person up
- Give naloxone, if available
- Begin rescue breathing or CPR
- Turn the person on their side to prevent choking
- Stay with the person until emergency services arrive
Treatment and recovery:
The Texas Targeted Opioid Response supports treatment and recovery providers across the state. Get Help at txopioidresponse.org.
Additionally, Outreach, Screening, Assessment and Referral (OSAR) providers offer Texans comprehensive services for fentanyl and other substance use. Callers speak with a trained counselor who can assess needs and refer them to a variety of services, including in-person and telehealth treatment. To find your local OSAR, go to Outreach, Screening, Assessment & Referral.
For more information and resources, visit Texas Health and Human Services.