In 2020, two Los Gatos Excessive College college students fatally overdosed on fentanyl, an artificial opioid drug 50 instances as potent as heroin.
Los Gatos Excessive College junior Kyle Santoro is on a mission to verify teenagers and oldsters speak not simply concerning the risks of fentanyl however why youngsters are reaching for medicine within the first place.
Santoro directed a documentary, “Fentanyl Excessive: The Fact Behind the HIgh College Epidemic,” and helped launch a Santa Clara County marketing campaign to boost consciousness of underage drug use.
“In some ways it impacts everybody locally everytime you hear that a peer in your neighborhood or your faculty has died …as a result of you may image your self, you may image your folks, you may image your siblings,” Santoro stated.
“I can’t even think about what the dad and mom of these youngsters needed to undergo, and if in case you have the prospect to be the voice to stop deaths – not simply from capsules however typically – any child ought to at all times take that chance.”
A free screening of his documentary is ready for Could 16 at 6:30 p.m. within the Los Gatos Excessive College theater, situated at 20 Excessive College Court docket, adopted by a panel dialogue with native leaders and youths.
The movie options interviews with Santa Clara County highschool college students, leaders and oldsters of scholars who died of fentanyl poisoning. Santoro stated he hopes his peer-to-peer strategy will resonate with teenagers.
“This isn't nearly fentanyl poisoning and taking capsules; it’s why youngsters are contemplating experimenting with medicine,” Santoro stated. “There’s positively a deeper ache with youngsters from my era, which is why we have to discuss this from a peer-to-peer perspective so we are able to save lives.”
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union Excessive College District partnered with Santoro to provide the documentary, contributing $1,500 to his $38,000 funds.
“We're extremely pleased with our neighborhood for making an attempt to succeed in college students in a wide range of methods on this matter, together with this student-directed documentary that appears at fentanyl from college students’ views,” the district stated in a press release. “It's our hope that every touchpoint reaches a brand new viewers that can be a part of us on this preventative work.”
One in 5 California teenage deaths have been brought on by fentanyl in 2021. Teenagers who suppose they're shopping for Adderall, OxyContin, Percocet or Xanax from a stranger on social media don’t know that their capsules are laced with fentanyl, Santoro stated.
A small quantity of fentanyl goes a good distance, and drug traffickers typically combine it into different medicine due to its low value to fabricate. Simply two milligrams might be deadly.
The stigma across the matter could make dad and mom and youths uncomfortable, however it’s essential to speak concerning the risks of medication, stated Katy Hawk, an LGHS senior who's within the movie.
“The fentanyl epidemic throughout the globe is solely taking place as a result of lack of know-how,” Hawk stated. “The vast majority of teenagers being uncovered to fentanyl aren’t even conscious that it's within the drug they're taking. Training is highly effective. It's higher to be educated and protected than unsure and in danger.”
The movie’s matter hits near residence. In 2022, police arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly promoting Los Gatos teenagers fentanyl-laced capsules close to the highschool.
Deputy District Legal professional Eunice Lee stated that the Santa Clara Police Division’s investigation right into a 15-year-old woman who overdosed on a fentanyl-laced Percocet tablet led them to Simon Armendariz of San Jose.
The woman survived after paramedics administered the opioid-blocking drug Narcan. She was considered one of 4 teenagers who purchased fentanyl from Armendariz.
Santoro has his personal manufacturing firm, LC2, and partnered with the Saratoga-based fentanyl consciousness nonprofit Tune for Charlie and the Los Gatos Saratoga Union Excessive College District to provide the documentary.
The documentary was partially funded by Tune for Charlie and the college district. Alongside the movie, Santoro labored with the college district, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and Tune for Charlie to design a countywide marketing campaign, “One Tablet Kills.”
Following the screening, Santoro will take suggestions from the neighborhood earlier than coming into the documentary in nationwide movie festivals. He additionally labored with Tune For Charlie to develop a examine information to accompany the documentary that will likely be taught in lecture rooms throughout the nation.