CA SCR115

Designates September 2022 as Opioid, Heroin, Fentanyl, and Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month in California.

Encourages California residents to show support for opioid and prescription drug awareness initiatives.

References alarming statistics including over 500,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States from 1999-2020 and 3,946 fentanyl deaths in California in 2020.

Notes that fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, with fentanyl overdose deaths increasing over 2,100% in California over five years.

Cites that 75 percent of new heroin users were first addicted to legally prescribed opioids and that aggregate annual costs for prescription opioid overdose and abuse reached $1.02 trillion nationally in 2017.