MOUNTAIN VIEW – South Bay authorities on Friday had been investigating the loss of life of a Los Altos Excessive College scholar and the chance it was associated to fentanyl poisoning.
Few particulars had been instantly obtainable. In a letter to the college neighborhood, the Mountain View Police Division mentioned its investigation was within the “very early levels.”
“We have no idea if different college students could also be in possession of narcotics, nor do we all know how the coed who died obtained the narcotics or from whom,” police mentioned. “We're additionally actively investigating whether or not that is associated to fentanyl poisoning. We all know that a household is grieving, that a faculty neighborhood is grieving, and that we have now pulled in each obtainable useful resource to try to deliver justice to the coed and their household.”
Police didn't disclose the coed’s identification.
On the identical day, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez introduced the formation of a fentanyl working group, which is able to embody mother and father of youngsters who've overdosed and died from the drug. The panel’s initiatives will embody a specialised enforcement staff in addition to a public service and social media marketing campaign to get the phrase out about road medicine laced with fentanyl and the hazards of fentanyl.
“We are going to maintain our first assembly on April 15 and get our work accomplished in not more than three months as a result of we all know there’s an pressing want,” Chavez mentioned at a information convention.
Fentanyl is inflicting a rising variety of deaths within the county, notably amongst 18 to 25-year-olds, Chavez mentioned. In 2019, there have been 29 deaths from fentanyl. That elevated to 90 in 2020.
“Most alarmingly, the quantity shot as much as 135 deaths in 2021,” Chavez mentioned. “In 2022, there have already been eight deaths.”
Fentanyl is estimated to be 50 to 100 instances stronger than morphine, mentioned Dr. Erin Woodhead, a member of the working group and an knowledgeable on habit and substance abuse.
“Fentanyl is so sturdy,” Woodhead mentioned. “Due to this there’s such a excessive threat of overdose and that’s compounded when individuals are utilizing fentanyl with different medicine.”
Anybody with data associated to the Mountain View case can contact Sgt. David Fisher at david.fisher@mountainview.gov.