Campaign against drug use underway in Kitsap

Friends of a 17-year-old Silverdale girl were shocked to find her dead at home, following an opioid overdose.

Meanwhile, family members discovered an 18-year-old girl, also from Silverdale, in bad shape after ingesting opioids. Relatives and first responders administered Narcan – an opioid overdose reversal drug – but the young girl didn’t survive.

In Port Orchard, a 23-year-old man suffered cardiac arrest from suspected illicit opioid drug use. Responding medical personnel restarted his heart with Narcan and transported him to the hospital, but he died three days later.

Such fatal overdoses in Kitsap County, as reported by Jeff Wallis, supervisor of the medical examiner’s office, is the driving force behind a new drug awareness program from the Kitsap Public Health District.

“This campaign is about opioids and fentanyl. It brings awareness to the public about illicit opioids and to prevent misuse and overdose,” said Dana Bierman, KPHD program manager for chronic disease and injury prevention.

The campaign, called “Kitsap Friends for Life,” highlights the dangers of street opioids, including fentanyl, and provides education about the potential life-saving use of Narcan, also referred known as Naloxone. The campaign also provides guidance to parents about talking to their children about drug use and the unpredictability of illicit opioids.

Street drugs, frequently laced with deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, have impacted the region. In 2023, more than 70 county residents died from opioid overdoses and another two dozen succumbed from other drugs, officials said. Between 2019-23, the age group suffering the most fatal opioid overdoses in the county and state were 26- to 44-year-olds.

The timing of the educational program is right, Wallis said.

“Anything that’s going to bring awareness and help prevent this is good. I’ve been saying for the last six years, anyone who’s taking any pills or drugs that aren’t prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacy is playing Russian roulette. There is no such thing as safe pills on the street,” Wallis said.

Several avenues of communication will be used to get out the message.

Billboards in Port Orchard and Bremerton will address the role of parents in discouraging drug use. “Your words matter. Talk to your teens about fentanyl.” YouTube videos will explain how to use naloxone to reverse an overdose. Public Service Announcements will run before movies in cinemas in Poulsbo, Silverdale and Bainbridge Island.

The campaign’s website ,KitsapFriendsforLife.org, provides a list of prevention and recovery resources in the county. It also features a video on how to administer Narcan and lists where the medication can be obtained locally.

Parents wanting to talk to their kids about illicit drugs will find links to conversation guides. “These encourage talking to teens about fentanyl. They point out most teens say they trust their parent or caregiver more than anyone when it comes to information and advice about drugs,” Bierman said.

Also, youths can find guidance on ways to refuse drugs in the face of peer pressure.

The Kitsap Friends for Life campaign will run for six months and is being underwritten by $56,000 from the state Department of Health.