Re: Amid worsening fentanyl crisis, Sacramento prosecutors and community members step up

On 20 Feb 2022, Molly Bolt <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> Give the stupid fuckers all the fentanyl they want!  Let them kill
> themselves.  Burn their bodies to make fertilizer and electricity. 
> Fuck them.  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
As fentanyl-related deaths skyrocket, prosecutors in Northern California 
are using new strategies to put more dealers behind bars.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is forming a new fentanyl 
rapid response team to investigate fentanyl-related deaths and track down 
dealers selling the drug.

Community organizations, including the Neighborhood Wellness Foundation in 
Del Paso Heights, are also stepping up their efforts on the streets, 
working to reverse opioid overdoses and save lives.

Every week, Dr. Gina Warren drives through Del Paso Heights, equipped with 
Narcan, blankets, food, and other resources. She knows some of its 
residents rely on her and the Neighborhood Wellness Foundation for life-
saving supplies. That includes Narcan, which is used to reverse overdoses 
that are climbing due to fentanyl. Warren, a pharmacist, said in the past 
five months, the foundation has reversed 30 overdoses.

"People are dying quickly, and it's out of control because people are 
seeking ways to numb their pain," Warren said. "Until we address that 
piece, we still have to address harm reduction; we still have to provide 
Narcan, and that's what we're out there doing."

Warren said while fentanyl is a complex problem with high stakes, the most 
urgent task is saving lives.

"If there’s no Narcan to reverse the overdose, people die. And they're 
dying in silence. They're dying quietly because nobody really wants to 
talk about it," Warren said. "All lives are worthy to be saved. It doesn't 
mean that we'll save them all, but at least we can try."

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said hundreds are dying in 
the county due to fentanyl, describing the death toll as "staggering."

Ho said there have been almost 600 fentanyl-related poisoning deaths in 
the past three years. In comparison, he said that is more than all of the 
gun-related homicides in Sacramento County during that period of time.

KCRA 3 Investigates went through data from the coroner. There were at 
least 321 fentanyl-related deaths in Sacramento County just last year. 
That's more than ever before. It's also killing teens, including 14, 16, 
and 17-year-old boys and girls. They've been found in homes, hotels, and 
parking lots. All of those deaths, and no murder convictions, until 
recently.

Ho said for the first time in Sacramento, a person was charged with murder 
in relation to selling fentanyl, leading to someone's death. He now has a 
warning for sellers.

"We tell defendants, 'Hey, if you're selling drugs in the future and 
somebody dies from a fentanyl overdose, you can be charged with murder,'" 
Ho said.

He hopes his fentanyl rapid response team will make that easier, by 
changing how they respond to those overdose scenes.

"There's going to be an investigation done, similar to a regular homicide 
case, where we're following who sold the drugs, when did they sell the 
drugs, and did they sell it knowing that it contained fentanyl," Ho said. 
"We need to do whatever we can so that those who are peddling and selling 
death essentially, with fentanyl, are held responsible."

According to the Sacramento County Coroner, there have been 39 fentanyl-
related deaths in Del Paso Heights over the past five years. In the north 
Sacramento area ZIP code, there have been 50 deaths. Midtown has seen 17, 
and East Sacramento has had one fentanyl-related death.

In the past year, about three-quarters of the deaths have affected men, 
most commonly between the ages of 30 and 40. One-quarter of the victims 
were homeless.

https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-fentanyl-crisis-dealers-
prosecutors/46621000