Friends, family of Fentanyl death victims rally…
Friends, family of Fentanyl death victims rally outside Snapchat's headquarters
The rally, organized by such anti-drug groups as the Alexander Neville Foundation and Drug Induced Homicide, was one of many that took place around the country on Friday.
Amy Neville, who helped organize the protest against Snapchat, speaks in front of the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA Friday, June 4, 2021. Nevilles son Alexander Neville, pictured in back, died after obtaining Fentanyl via a contact on Snapchat. The rally was held to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The group wants Snapchat to do more to protect young users from unknowingly purchasing Fentanyl through the app. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
By Mark Mcgreal | mcgrealmark@gmail.com |
Parents stack up photos of children who have died after obtaining Fentanyl via contacts on. A rally was held near the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The group wants Snapchat to do more to protect young users from unknowingly purchasing Fentanyl through the app. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Roy Plunk wears a photo of his deceased son, Zachariah Plunk, at a protest in front of the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA Friday, June 4, 2021. The rally was held to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The group wants Snapchat to do more to protect young users from unknowingly purchasing Fentanyl through the app. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Parents protest against Snapchat and their lack of action against drug dealers using the platform to prey on adolescents near the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA Friday, June 4, 2021. The rally was held to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The group wants Snapchat to do more to protect young users from unknowingly purchasing Fentanyl through the app. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Edith Gonzalez hugs her daughter Kimberly Fuentez as they protest against Snapchat and their lack of action against drug dealers using the platform to prey on adolescents near the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA Friday, June 4, 2021. The rally was held to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The pair lost their friend Adrian De Jesus to Fentanyl poisoning. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Parents protest against Snapchat and their lack of action against drug dealers using the platform to prey on adolescents in front of the Snapchat offices in Santa Monica, CA Friday, June 4, 2021. The rally was held to bring awareness to the fentanyl epidemic and how easy it is for drug dealers to prey children via Snapchat and other social media platforms. The group wants Snapchat to do more to protect young users from unknowingly purchasing Fentanyl through the app. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Anti-drug activists gathered outside Snapchat's Santa Monica headquarters on Friday, June 4, to demand the social media company launch reforms that they hope will cut down on illicit drug distribution and death from ingestion of fentanyl, a cheap and often deadly alternative to oxycodone.
The rally, organized by such anti-drug groups as the Alexander Neville Foundation and Drug Induced Homicide, was one of many that took place around the country on Friday. The nationwide effort was coordinated by the Association of People Against Lethal Drugs.
In Santa Monica, protesters — some carrying posters with their loved ones faces on them, denoting their name, age and the date they died. — marched to Snapchat's offices. "Snapchat, you need to make a choice," Dr. Laura Berman said.
A spokesperson for the social media giant responded to the allegations by saying that it is trying to cut down on illicit drug sales via the app and that it works with law enforcement to catch drug dealers. The company argues that the app is supposed to be made for people who already know each other, and a person can't search on it to find random children to prey on. Snapchat also rolled out a campaign earlier this year to educate kids on the dangers of drugs.
Berman, a relationship therapist and television host, said her son died of an overdose in February. The drugs, she said, were either laced with fentanyl or were just fentanyl marketed as another, less deadly drug.
According to the CDC, approximately 50,000 people died of overdoses involving opioids in 2019. Of those deaths, 73% involved a synthetic opioid, such as fentanyl. The CDC also found that fentanyl has increased deaths because it is being sold as counterfeit pills. A drug dealer might claim its oxycodone when in fact its illicitly-made fentanyl — which is cheaper to produce.
Matt Capelouto said his daughter died after taking what she thought was oxycodone but turned out to contain five times he fatal amount of fentanyl while home from college during 2019.
Dealers aren't doling out drugs but something much worse, Capelouto said.
"They are death dealers," Capelouto said. "They deal death in the form of counterfeit pills."
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Capelouto, a member of the group Drug Induced Homicide, spearheaded an effort to pass a state Senate bill that would enable drug dealers whose clients overdose to be held liable for their deaths, much in the same way drunk drivers are liable if they kill someone while driving intoxicated. SB 350, nicknamed "Alexandra's Law" after Capelouto's daughter, failed to pass back in March.
There may still be hope for the bill. Nathan Hochman, a candidate for California attorney general, spoke at the rally and said he thought the bill very reasonable and would fight for it if elected.
Amy Neville is head of the Alexander Neville Foundation, named after her 14-yearo-old who she said died after taking fentanyl. She alleged that Snapchat simply makes it too easy to get drugs.
"If it was still scary to get drugs, not as many kids would do them," Neville said. "Right now, it's like ordering food, getting it delivered. It's as simple as that."
Mark Mcgreal