\u201cThe tragedy that I had experienced, the depression and the anger that you feel, if you can make a difference, you need to make a difference,\u201d one parent said.<\/p>\n
SAN ANTONIO \u2014 After recording the highest number of fentanyl-related deaths in 2023, Texas has seen a significant drop in fatalities \u2014 more than 40%, according to the Texas Department of Health Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
State officials and advocates attribute the progress to growing awareness and community-driven efforts, including events like the \u201cSoles Walking 4 Souls\u201d Fentanyl Awareness Walk held Sunday in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Now in its third year, the walk honors children lost to fentanyl poisoning while educating the public about the deadly synthetic opioid and resources available.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The event was organized by the \u201cAngel Moms\u201d \u2014 a group of mothers who have lost children to fentanyl and are now dedicated to raising awareness and fighting stigma.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it means for me \u2014 it\u2019s having a voice for the voiceless, for your children that can no longer speak,\u201d Christina Villagrana said.<\/p>\n
Among those participating was Camille Gray, whose son, Blayne Tucker, died from fentanyl poisoning in December 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just soul-crushing because you want to pluck him out of that situation,\u201d Gray said. \u201cThe tragedy that I had experienced, the depression and the anger that you feel \u2014 if you can make a difference, you need to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers emphasized that many fentanyl poisonings occur when people unknowingly consume the drug, often mixed into counterfeit pills or other substances. They hope to shift the narrative away from blaming victims and toward understanding the dangers of unintentional exposure.<\/p>\n
\u201cFentanyl also comes with a stigma,\u201d Villagrana said. \u201cPeople will want to blame \u2014 \u2018Well, your child, it\u2019s their fault.\u2019 But we\u2019re here to let people know this is a poisoning, not an overdose. They didn\u2019t know they were taking fentanyl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governor Greg Abbott also pointed to the recent decline in fentanyl-related deaths as a sign that awareness and enforcement efforts are having an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Texas Department of Health Services just published that in the great state of Texas, fentanyl deaths have declined by more than 40%, saving lives,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n
Despite that progress, Abbott cautioned that the work is far from over.<\/p>\n
\u201cJan. 31, I believe it was, we took a half a million pills off the streets in one fell swoop,\u201d Sheriff Javier Salazar said. \u201cBut even then, we can\u2019t just stop and declare victory… While we’re high-fiving on the side of the road for the half million pills, how many 18-wheelers drove past us at that very same moment?\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cSoles Walking 4 Souls\u201d walk serves as both a memorial and a call to action, as families, advocates and officials continue their efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis in Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe tragedy that I had experienced, the depression and the anger that you feel, if you can make…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":299009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-299008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-san-antonio","10":"tag-sanantonio","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115364970931045594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}