Hillsborough will host its first Fentanyl Awareness Day Saturday in an effort to advocate for responsible drug use and provide safety information, led by efforts of the city’s recently established youth commission.
Rohan Dalal, a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands School and founder of the Hillsborough Youth Commission, first became interested in local government by way of his involvement in Model United Nations in seventh grade. He started the commission with hopes of creating a space for young people in the community to have a voice.
“I realized that a lot of change comes from local government,” Dalal said. “I also realized that me and my peers that are under 18 can’t vote, can’t run for office, but we are still affected by all these policies.”
Mandy Brown, senior managing analyst for the City Manager’s Office, said the youth commission has already had a significant impact in improving the lives of Hillsborough teens.
“We don’t have a public high school within town limits so teens are spread out. It’s nice to have representation from lots of the different local high schools,” Brown said. “They’re great leaders with really visionary ideas for both the community of Hillsborough, and regional and national issues.”
In addition to representing the youth’s voice on city matters, the Youth Commission aims to host events and raise awareness on matters they believe are important. The Fentanyl Awareness Day was entirely spearheaded by Dalal and the Youth Commission and demonstrates its importance specifically to teens on the Peninsula.
In 2021, almost 6,000 Californians died from fentanyl poisoning, according to the California Department of Public Health. One in 25 of those deaths was a child 19 years or younger.
Dalal mentioned the story of Colin Walker, who was a Carlmont High School 17-year-old student who died from fentanyl overdose in 2021. Walker’s mother, Elizabeth, will speak at the event on Saturday on behalf of her son’s memorial foundation.
“I think having her speak is one of the most important things,” Dalal said. “Talking to her really hit home for me and is really applicable to me and I think a lot of my peers.”
In 2022, San Mateo County recorded 81 deaths and 140 emergency room visits related to any opioid overdose, according to the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. This has grown substantially since the 12 deaths reported in 2016.
Dalal noted the importance of acknowledging student mental health in the peninsula as a significant contributing factor to drug use. Two speakers at the event will be from San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery to speak to this matter.
“At Crystal Springs, I myself, and I know a lot of my peers, are very stressed out,” Dalal said. “When it’s at that level, a lot can happen. There have been suicides or attempts and that’s really why I thought it was very important.”
Dalal said the Youth Commission placed an emphasis on gathering speakers from a variety of backgrounds to address the many lenses needed to approach this topic.
Additional speakers will include state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park; San Mateo County Superintendent Nancy Magee; Dr. Sam Frenkel who works in the Mills-Peninsula Medical Center emergency department; a representative for the Central County Fire Department; and Christopher Smith, supervising inspector of the Hillsborough Police Department.
The Police Department will provide information on its policies when addressing minors who may be using drugs in an effort to curb any hesitation from contacting law enforcement in the case of a possible overdose or poisoning.
“The important thing is whatever their policy is, they’re going to explain it to teens so that they understand not just what happens, but why,” Dalal said. “Their protocols are very thought out but they’re not always known to the public so it’ll be good to hear the rationale behind why they do things.”
The ultimate goal of the event is to simply increase awareness, Dalal said, and he hopes that anyone who attends leaves with even just one piece of new information.
“People that come and take away the fact that this is a prevalent problem and that if they do experiment or find themselves in trouble, there’s stuff that can be done like NARCAN or fentanyl test strips,” Dalal said. “That alone really changes the game.”
(2) comments
As brewster1 pointed out, is there any such thing as responsible fentanyl drug outside of a doctor’s prescription/guidance? Speaking of responsibility, perhaps this event can shed light on any liability or criminal actions associated with injecting NARCAN into someone. In this day and age of litigation what’s to stop anyone from filing a civil suit, or a DA filing a criminal suit against someone for potentially saving a life? Are folks willing to get involved and take on that responsibility instead of waiting for authorized/certified NARCAN injectors? Meanwhile, will awareness encompass the porous border bringing more fentanyl to America?
Responsible fentanyl use by teenagers is an oxymoron
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