National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day started back in 2022. Within the span of two years, there’s been more hope to help people who’ve lost someone to a fatal overdose from Fentanyl.

For the first time since 2018, the city of Duluth might actually see fewer fatal fentanyl overdoses in 2024 compared to 2023’s 37 fatal overdoses. Jess McCarthy-Nickila is the program coordinator for the Duluth Police Department’s Substance Use Response Team. She says one of the reasons there’s fewer fatal overdoses from Fentynal is from more readily available NARCAN.

“We’re at almost 200 nonfatal overdoses. Those are just overdoses occurring within the city of Duluth limits. Nearly 20 of those have been fatal,” Nickila said. “This is a public health crisis and we can all take a step to making it better. You can pick up Narcan from the pharmacy now without a prescription. There are places around town that you can get it for free. You will get trained in how to use it, trained in how to recognize the signs of an overdose and what to do if, when you’re in that situation.”

While fatal overdoses from fentanyl have been on the decline, there’s still the issue of tackling drug addiction recovery. Brandon Torgeson is the Duluth Center Director with Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. he says it’s incredibly important people know how dangerous fentanyl can be.

“It’s more than 50 times potent than heroin, and it’s over 100 times more potent than morphine. Since 2018, the number of opioid deaths in Minnesota went from 342 to over 1,000. We have a serious issue on our hands,” Torgeson said. “But we at Teen Challenge have great programs that can help people find the freedom that they’re longing for to beat this addiction once and for all.”

MNTAC’s Duluth-Campus offers a short-term and long-term program to help people recover from the drug addictions. Torgeson also says they are ready at a moment’s notice to help someone struggling with their drug addiction.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen more and more fentanyl addicted clients of ours coming through our doors. Now we’ve seen a lot of them get sober,” Torgeson said. “Some of them work for us now and have many years of sobriety. It’s been awesome to see.”

The Harm Reduction Sisters and Recovery Alliance Duluth is hosting the annual International Overdose Awareness Day event this weekend. It will be located at Central Hillside Park in Duluth with local music, food, speakers, and more! This event is also family-friendly and free to the public.

For more information about Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness day you can read more here. Also for other stories happening in Duluth you can read more here.