BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Tuesday, May 9 is National Fentanyl Awareness Day. According to the Fentanyl Awareness Day advocacy group, the synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. At that potency, an amount of pure fentanyl equal to just a few grains of sand can be lethal.
21-year-old Olivia Flores knows the pain of the opioid epidemic all too well after losing her brother to a fentanyl overdose.
"He was partying with cocaine and ecstasy. He didn't do heroin. He didn't do fentanyl. He was hanging with his friends and they went home one night and he didn't know, and he was like…" Flores breaks down, apologizing.
Flores says she wishes she could have held her younger brother the night he died, but she says she hopes to honor his life by getting clean and staying sober.
"I felt like I was spitting on his grave using drugs," said Flores. "That wasn't cool and I would never want to dishonor him like that."
CEO of Action Family Counseling Cary Quashen has been sober for more than 40 years, and he says he made it his mission to help patients like Flores and keep people from the dangers of drug abuse.
During his extensive career, Quashen says he's seen various trends in drug abuse, but fentanyl is a game-changer.
"It's a time in this world right now where recreationally using any drugs or experimenting with any drugs is Russian Roulette at best," said Quashen.
State Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains says she sees the impact of fentanyl firsthand, and says the crisis is the reason she decided to run for office.
MInutes after being sworn in as a representative, Bains introduced Assembly Bill 33 to create a task force of public safety and public health experts to provide assistance to both urban and rural communities in California.
"America is losing its war on drugs. I'm seeing it every day. Legislators have had their chance. Now let the experts lead us," said Bains.
The Kern County Sheriff's Office reports 256 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2022, and 51 deaths so far in 2023. According to KCSO, the coroner's office typically doesn't find fentanyl alone in a victim's bloodstream.
"These days what you're seeing oftentimes is fentanyl pills that we are pulling off the streets look like dupes. They're meant to look like another pill," said Lori Meza, KCSO Public Information Officer.
Flores says having support from counselors and other patients who share her experience helps her process the loss of her brother and keeps her sober. She adds that she believes parents need to intervene for their kids because what happened to her family can happen to anyone.
"He was good," Flores says of her brother. "He wasn't a drug addict like me. He was just partying. He didn't know, but that can happen to anyone. It's in everything now."
Flores wants to bring more awareness to the issue of the opioid epidemic and plans to stay clean, saying she doesn't want her mother to have to bury two kids so young.
