Last fall, Sandy Snodgrass told her son Bruce, “Be careful out there,” as he left for a bike ride. Despite working towards his recovery, Bruce fatally overdosed that day due to fentanyl. The police officer who met Sandy where her son’s body was found had just come from notifying another family of an overdose death.
The continuing rise in overdose deaths is driven largely by fentanyl, a particularly lethal synthetic opioid. Preliminary data shows that more than half of all overdose deaths in 2021 involved synthetic opioids. Nearly 90% of opioid overdose deaths involve fentanyl.
Sandy is now working to ensure other families do not experience what hers did. Due to its potency and low cost, fentanyl is increasingly being found in other substances, including counterfeit pills and stimulants. People using these substances often do not know they contain opioids or fentanyl. It is imperative to raise public awareness about the proliferation of fentanyl and its risks.
Bruce’s Law, named for Bruce Snodgrass, would bolster prevention and education efforts surrounding fentanyl. It would authorize a public education and awareness campaign on the dangers of substances contaminated with fentanyl and detection of early warning signs of addiction among youth, authorize the establishment of a Federal Interagency Working Group on Fentanyl and Contamination of Illegal Drugs, and provide grants for educating young people on the risks of substances contaminated with fentanyl.
Help Sandy in her work by asking your senators to cosponsor Bruce’s Law to support prevention and education efforts to help reduce fentanyl-related overdoses.
