Last year, I played a small part in writing a special report series for Comstock's on the fentanyl crisis. When I think of fentanyl, I think of my last drive through the Tenderloin in San Francisco — an Inferno-esque tableau of active drug deals, a pit bull pulling at a chain, men and women folded over as their world fades to black, a man projectile vomiting onto the sidewalk — it was too much for the brain to comprehend in the span of three blocks. But you can't look away.
In my contribution to the special report, I focused on a small California county where opioid addicts are turning to fentanyl, either accidentally or on purpose, and how this deadly narcotic is finding its way into recreational drugs taken by unsuspecting teens at parties. The widespread availability of Narcan has helped curb deaths, but this is just a Band-Aid. We have a societal problem, and it's mental illness, and it's greed, and it's willful ignorance and resigned apathy. All these demons existed long before fentanyl came onto the scene, but deaths seem to be the only data that can grip our attention. You can't quantify the depths of human suffering.
Sometimes, though, journalism can force us to look and can influence legislation. Our special report, which won a first place in the recent California News Publishers Association awards, actually prompted legislation in Orange County to bring attention to emojis being used in drug deals. I hope we can do more than that.
On another note, I'm excited about a feature I wrote on elder care and caretaking that will be the cover story for August's issue. It's a topic that is very close to my heart. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading!
Dax
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