LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — People on the front line of the crisis say concerns are growing with fentanyl, and in response, Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen is targeting the border to stop the drugs there before they get here.
"When I was 14, I got sober. If I was still out there today, I wouldn't be talking to you right now," advocate Landynn Meyers tells us.
He is glad he got clean five years ago as fentanyl is being found in more drugs, and more people are dying.
"It is just killing people like that because they do not know what they are taking," Meyers continued.
He gives and gets support from the organization There is No Hero in Heroin in Las Vegas, a facility helping people with substance abuse disorder.
We also spoke with TINHIH CEO Ari Chelli.
"We see about 250 adolescents per quarter...it is pretty alarming, and primarily that is because fentanyl poisoning is happening across multiple substances," she said.
She says from 2018 to 2019, overdose deaths more than doubled.
"We just can't keep up with the landscape changing all the time," Chelli continued.
It's a problem that is only getting worse.
Senator Jacky Rosen introduced the Stop Fentantly Billafter a recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.
"It is investing over $5 billion in a couple of things, first of all into new technology and resources to stop the flow of drugs and contraband from coming in and then the border agents to analyze that," Rosen said.
She says the money would go toward resources like new technology at the ports of entry to detect illegal drugs like fentanyl,. She says something has to be done to stop it.
"The human toll is overwhelming," the senator continued.
The bill was introduced just last week, and Rosen hopes it will be included in the bipartisan border security package the Senate is working on.
Meanwhile, programs like There is No Hero in Heroin continue to fight the increasing overdoses with knowledge about Narcan.
"Recovery is possible for anybody," Meyers told us.
Meyers says there is help out there for those struggling with addiction. "These people will show you love you never felt before and show you a new life."
