A bilingual forum that will address the dangers of fentanyl poisoning, prevention and intervention will be held at Townview Center for Dallas ISD parents and students this Saturday.
The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. with a light breakfast and last until noon. Speakers will include Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, Dallas PD Chief Eddie Garcia, and City Council Members Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua.
The City of Dallas and the Dallas Opioid Strike Force are co-hosting the forum, which will be conveyed in both English and Spanish.
A video statement about the meeting from Elizalde can be viewed here.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the country, and throughout the DFW metroplex teenagers have been impacted by the drug.
In February, the Department of Justice tied ten juvenile overdoses in Carrollton to a pair of dealers. That same month, a 16-year-old Plano student overdosed and died after taking what she thought to be a prescription Percocet.
The city of Dallas has been slow to release data about fentanyl overdose deaths in our city. Last year, the city council agreed to join the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, a federally funded initiative that tracks fentanyl overdoses. While the map has not yet been released, the city has focused on other initiatives, like forums, to raise awareness for the rise in fentanyl deaths.
