Starting this week, all Petaluma police officers are carrying the anti-opioid medication called Narcan.
It’s in response to what some are calling a growing epidemic in the North Bay and communities all across the country.
Putting the opioid epidemic into perspective, Petaluma Valley Hospital says in the past two months, it has treated more people for prescription drug overdoses than it has in the past five years.
“It’s here–it’s starting,” Petaluma Parents Against Drugs co-founder Heather Elliott-Hudson said.
Elliott-Hudson and Kathleen Stafford co-founded PPAD two years ago.
Then, their kids were still in high school and feared their curiosity in prescription drugs could lead to an addiction or death.
“If your kid isn’t doing it, we 100-percent guarantee that they know somebody close to them there is,” Stafford said.
Stafford and Elliott-Hudson are pleased to hear the Petaluma police department is responding to this crisis.
As of Monday, all uniformed officers are carrying the anti-opioid medication Narcan.
It can reverse the effects of an overdose of heroin and other opioids, including the synthetic drug fentanyl.
In the past six months, police have responded to at least 21 overdose calls. In those cases, four people died.
One of them is a 16-year-old boy who, last month, is believed to have been killed from taking Xanax that contained fentanyl.
His mother was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and child endangerment.
“Those pill parties I used to watch on 60 minutes–they call them skittles parties,” Stafford said. “I was in awe, like wow, that doesn’t happen around here. They happen every weekend around here in these neighborhoods.”
Investigators also believe the number of overdoses citywide is much higher.
It’s just that not all of them are reported.
“Start talking to your kids,” Elliott-Hudson said. “Be nosey. You’re the parent for a reason. And it doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk-parent, but you need to be involved.”
Before it’s too late.