Fort Bragg family takes to the streets to warn others about fentanyl
FORT BRAGG, CA., 10/18/24 — Outside Fort Bragg Town Hall last Saturday afternoon, Chantarelle Hurtado was holding a sign bearing a photo of her son, Andrew Hurtado, who died of a fentanyl overdose on June 2 at age 25. About a dozen of the Hurtado family, in-laws and friends also hoisted signs.
“Andrew had a huge heart and would give the shirt off his back for anyone,” Chantarelle Hurtado said. “His smile and laugh were contagious. He was a big jokester, always making us laugh. He loved life and loved hard. He wanted to see and travel the world. He is missed by his family and many others.” Hurtado explained that she and her family members wanted to save other young people’s lives — ”if only people knew more about the problem.”
Nearly every weekend, one or more groups gather outside Town Hall carrying signs, often getting supportive toots on car horns as people drive past. Church groups, the protest group Women in Black, climate change activists, liberals and libertarians alike have all mounted events in front of Town Hall at State Route 1 and Laurel Street.
Hurtado wants other parents to be aware of the dangers of synthetic opiates before another tragedy happens. “There have been at least four fentanyl overdose deaths this year right here in Fort Bragg,” Hurtado said, as family members chimed in, explaining that there is no easy way to know how many people have died of fentanyl overdoses in the county. Friendly honks continued on this sunny Saturday at about 2 p.m., and the family members waved and smiled at the cars. Andrew Hurtado was the youngest child in a large family.
When Hurtado was interviewed later, she wanted to be sure the focus stayed on the critical issue of fentanyl use prevention. She feels local cops and prosecutors need to do more.
“We would like to see swift and thorough investigations into these deaths and murder charges for fentanyl dealers,” she said. “That is already happening in other counties, such as Lake County and across the country, and we would like to see Mendocino County follow suit.”
Fort Bragg task force formed to address fentanyl use
The city’s fentanyl task force met for the second time on Wednesday, October 16. The meeting was not open to the public, but a community forum is planned at a date still to be determined. “The first two meetings involve getting everyone up to speed on what is currently being done, where the deficiencies are, and how we can improve more,” said Fort Bragg Police Chief Neil Cervenka. The fentanyl task force is composed of between 12-15 members from diverse backgrounds, including students, educators, parents, business owners, medical professionals, community leaders, and elected officials, Cervenka told the city council earlier this year. He said he hopes the task force, formed by the police department in January, will provide varied perspectives that may have been overlooked by police officials..
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Institutes of Health, fentanyl dealers often get people hooked by spiking the synthetic into methamphetamine or even marijuana they might also sell. When addicts want the much more powerful high of fentanyl, drug dealers sell them fentanyl at a higher price. Synthetic drugs like fentanyl have replaced products made from plants such as heroin, which was limited by the number of poppies. Fentanyl has no such limits and is used in medical settings most often to treat severe pain after surgery, but only under the direct care of a physician. Fentanyl is a controlled schedule I drug that is about 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Cervenka agreed with what Hurtado said about the difficulty of knowing the number of local deaths.
“As I stated in a city council meeting, overdoses are a medical issue and not a criminal issue,” he said, explaining that much of the information is governed by medical privacy. “Our stats come from OD Maps [overdose detection maps]… with information provided by hospitals, emergency medical service providers, and medical examiners. They are not our statistics, so it is challenging to verify others’ data.” The Mendocino Voice reached out to Mendocino County Public Health, but that agency did not have 2024 figures for overdose deaths.Mendocino County has been cited by media, law enforcement and health care providers as high in per capita opioid overdose rates. Is it really? A search of the California Department of Public Health’s figures shows 2021 statistics are still being used, while the California Department of Justice uses 2020 numbers. Research into the numbers shows they are inconsistent and possibly unreliable. Many big city hospitals don’t test for opioids, and reporting is variable across the state. The California Department of Health reported that more than 65 percent of all drug overdoses are opioid overdoses.
Cervenka unveiled the Fort Bragg Community Task Force on Fentanyl at a city council meeting on January 22. The Fort Bragg Police Department secured a $345,363 grant from the California Department of Health Care Service’s Youth Opioid Response program, making it the sole law enforcement agency in the state to receive a share of the $12 million legislated grant. The money was spent on educational programs in local schools, but that funding has now expired.
“Grant funding for the opiate program did expire, but we are continuing many aspects of it as part of the Care Response Unit,” Cervenka said. The CRU is a highly regarded non-police response team that connects people to services and has helped homeless individuals find connections back to hometowns.
Cervenka told the council in January how a 2023 FBPD program had gotten 27 individuals into rehab and also conducted extensive Narcan training with widespread distribution throughout the community. The department has intensified enforcement efforts, with an increased number of search warrants, narcotic investigations, and follow-ups on tips related to narcotic sales, Cervenka said.
Cervenka said officers are trained to administer Narcan correctly. “The Narcan training FBPD provides includes the fact that naloxone should be administered every two minutes until a patient regains consciousness. Additionally, we train to check for a pulse and do CPR if there is none. It doesn’t work if the blood is not circulating the medication to the brain. There are a lot of organizations distributing Narcan, and I cannot say how they are training,” Cervenka said. Training can be spotty or even absent when doses are handed out to citizens willing to help.
In 2023 “Melanie’s Law” imposed new standards for schools. It requires all middle and high schools to develop a plan to prevent and respond to fentanyl overdoses. It was named after Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old student who was found dead in 2022 from a suspected fentanyl overdose in a bathroom at the high school she attended in Hollywood. The law requires schools to incorporate fentanyl prevention education into its health curriculum. It also requires that Narcan be available on campus.
“We were already doing more than what is required under this law,” said Fort Bragg Unified School District Superintendent Joseph Aldridge. The Mendocino Coast Clinics also works with the schools on programs. Aldridge said a big help is a new nonprofit started by 2023 Fort Bragg High School graduate Holiday Barrett, who was co-valedictorian of her class.
“We are in the process of training every Fort Bragg High School student to identify an overdose and respond using Narcan. We have also been able to distribute Narcan to all FBHS students who are interested as well as some local organizations like the Fort Bragg Rotary Club,” Barrett said.
“Our method is always to educate and train before giving the [Narcan],” Aldridge added.
Aldridge said the district has other drug prevention programs. Fort Bragg Police Officer Rory Beak became the district’s School Resource Officer, a position that had gone unfilled for several years. Aldridge said Beak will be getting training for a revamped DARE (Drug Abuse Resource Education) program that should be available in schools. He said the program is far different than the DARE of the 1980s. New state laws also require each community college district and California State University campus to offer students free Narcan doses and provide preventative information on opioid overdose.
The extended Hurtado family had to deal with one angry individual who said he lived above the stores, across the street from the Town Hall. “Do that in front of somebody else’s house,” the man said.
Chantarelle Hurtado pointed at the sign “Town Hall” as one of her family members said, “Town Hall, this is America, this is our house.”
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