AUSTIN, Texas — Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott hosted a summit on the dangers of fentanyl and the impacts it's having on Texans. Families, law enforcement and legislatures were all invited to share what needs to be done to curb the crisis.
It's called the "One Pill Kills" summit, a statement that's, unfortunately, the reality for many families across Texas and nationwide.
Abbott is pledging $10 million to amp up a campaign surrounding the awareness of fentanyl poisoning and pledging Narcan to every county in the state.
The governor says the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) will start by sending out 20,000 units of Narcan across the state, in an effort to state the seriousness of this crisis.
"Not many kids know about the deadly effects of fentanyl, and many students have even come up to me and been like, never even heard of it," said Jenna Mitchell, a Leander High School student.
Mitchell says fentanyl doesn't take on just one form.
"I've just heard from teachers and staff that, 'oh, don't do drugs, don't do drugs,' but have never heard about the negative side effects or even that you can take a pill and it unknowingly be laced with fentanyl," said Mitchell.
Abbott invited families who have been affected by the drug to talk about how the state is handling it.
Veronica Kaprosky lost her 17-year-old daughter Danica to fentanyl poisoning last year. She says Danica took Percocet to deal with the pain associated with allergies and insomnia. One of the pills she took contained fentanyl.
"It's hard, it's hard living without her. You know, we did everything together as a family. So it's the most difficult, heartbreaking pain that you can ever endure," said Kaprosky.
Kaprosky says with how many people the drug is killing, she wants to see the state treat this like COVID when it comes to things like education and awareness around the effects of the drug.
"When COVID was here, there was a press conference every day, every day there was a press conference on how many deaths and this and that. This is what I want," said Kaprosky.
"On average, more than five people in Texas [are] losing their life every day because of fentanyl. The number one killer of Americans between 18 and 45 is fentanyl," said Abbott.
Both state leaders and families are pushing to get deaths from fentanyl classified as poisonings and not overdoses to make it clear, one pill is enough to take a life.
"I want to let you know that the session is not over yet. And you have a panel of lawmakers up here who want to make a difference on this issue," said State Rep. Tom Oliverson.