FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — On Thursday, the Fresno City Council is expected to vote on a new ordinance that will give businesses that serve alcohol access to the opioid reversal drug Narcan.
“In the last three years here alone in Fresno County, we’ve experienced approximately 300 fentanyl-related deaths,” said Annalisa Perea, city council president.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin.
Perea says this new ordinance will offer two cans to bars, nightclubs, lounges and even restaurants that serve alcohol.
Fresno will be the first city in the state, and second in the nation to adopt an ordinance like this.
“We do have a great partnership with the Fresno County Public Health Department, and so they have agreed to work with us to not only distribute, not only help us train the managers but to provide the free dose,” said Perea.
But it’s not just bars that community members are concerned about.
Less than ten miles from city hall, one organization is fighting to get as many Narcan devices in the hands of people who may need them.
“We worked with Clovis Unified. Now, Clovis Unified has Narcan not only in their schools but in almost every classroom,” explained Flindt Andersen with Parents and Addicts In Need, also known as PAIN.
Pictures of celebrities who have overdosed in years past line the walls of PAIN.
Andersen says it’s a grim reminder of the drug problem in America.
“We are in an epidemic like we have never seen before,” said Andersen.
Andersen says he’s received pushback from people scared of handling Narcan devices.
“You simply want to take and put it in their nostril and just squirt. It’s one shot per nostril,” Andersen demonstrated.
Although he believes the city ordinance is a good step forward, Andersen urges state lawmakers to make a change when it comes to prevention and recovery.
