A call to action
The recent West Hawaii Today article about the fentanyl overdose death of a 13-year-old student in Florida was timely (“Youth’s overdose death renews plea for Narcan in schools,” Jan. 25). The illicit drug fentanyl is now being aggressively distributed on Hawaii Island.
Fentanyl overdoses are not rare or isolated. It is sad yet true that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 to 45 years old.
The writers of this letter — a community leader and a physician who has lived and worked here for over 40 years and specializes in the field of addiction medicine — want the wider community to know what we know, for the safety of all.
In West Hawaii, we are aware of local fentanyl deaths, and we have reports of very young users here, as well. The national epidemic has been present locally for a few years, yet now the supply of fentanyl is exponentially accelerating.
Hawaii County overdose deaths had increased by 200% by March 2021. Most of those deaths were fentanyl-associated.
Nonmedical, illicit fentanyl comes in a powder form which is made into counterfeit pills that look like common prescription opioids, such as oxycodone, Norco, Xanax, Valium and Adderall.
It is easily mixed with other substances (methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, etc.) and co-use with any of these other drugs increases the potential for overdose and death. There are even reports it has been associated with cannabis-related “overdoses.”
Fentanyl use is rising and is overtaking all other illicit drugs as a killer and a plague of social destruction.
We are joining with other community leaders, including Mayor Mitch Roth, West Hawaii Community Health Clinic, and the Hawaii County Police Department to present an online summit to inform our community about this urgent issue.
We encourage anyone who is interested to join us on Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon to learn what we are seeing locally and how to stay safe. Everyone is invited to pre-register for the event, or you can simply log in on the day of the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Summit at https://bit.ly/DontDieHI.
Wally Lau
Kevin Kunz, MD
Beware of intersections
I like to show my concern regarding drivers driving through red lights.
Drivers don’t seem to stop or slow down when the light turns yellow; instead, they just go straight through the red light. All day long I see this.
My friend came to visit last year. He rented a car, headed north on Highway 11, stopped on yellow, and was hit from behind. Vacation turned bad.
First thing he said was, “ I guess drivers in Hawaii don’t stop on yellow.”
Beware of intersections when lights turn red because your life could be in danger.
Ursula Maloney
Keaau