Community Drug Education Summit Aims to Combat Overdoses

Amid an uptick in fatal and near-fatal overdoses linked to the recreational use of pills laced with fentanyl, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office is hosting a Community Drug Education Summit on Dec. 6. 

The Summit will be at 6 p.m. Monday, at Shoal Creek Community Church, 6816 Church Rd., Pleasant Valley, Mo. 

“The overdoses we’re seeing lately – especially among young people – are unacceptable,” Sheriff Will Akin said. “We want to do everything we can to educate our community about what’s happening, and how it can be prevented and treated.”

In addition to detectives from the Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Squad, the summit will feature addiction prevention and treatment resources from community partners like Tri-County Mental Health and addiction treatment service providers. After the presentation portion, attendees will be invited to meet with detectives, deputies and treatment providers to ask questions or get help one-on-one. 

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a rare public alert in September about counterfeit prescription medications laced with fentanyl. Through mid-September, the DEA had seized more than 9.5 million of these counterfeit pills in 2021, which is more than the last two years combined. These pills are widely available on social media and e-commerce platforms. Most concerning, the DEA found that 40% of pills seized (or 2 out of every 5) contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. These pills look like genuine prescription drugs and cannot be distinguished by appearance alone. Around the country, fentanyl also has been found in other illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. 

The Sheriff’s Office Drug Squad is currently investigating more than a dozen overdose cases involving fentanyl-laced pills and nine deaths so far in 2021. They investigated just two overdose deaths in all of 2020. 

The Community Drug Education Summit on Dec. 6 is the first of what the Sheriff’s Office hopes to be several summits in different parts of Clay County. Parents, educators, loved ones of addicts, and all concerned community members are invited to attend.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story