In Depth: Cracking down on fentanyl overdoses
LOS ANGELES - Segment one:
Hal is joined by DEA Agent Bill Bodner and grieving father Sam Chapman.
Chapman and his wife, therapist Dr. Laura Berman, lost their son to an accidental overdose just weeks ago. Berman describes what happened, and how their son obtained the counterfeit drug laced with deadly fentanyl through a Snapchat contact.
Bodner talks about how Mexican cartels take fentanyl manufactured in China and create counterfeit drugs that are flooding the American market.
Chapman says he and his wife are trying to bring attention to the use of social media to peddle these deadly drugs. Bodner says the DEA’s "Operation Engage" is a multi-pronged approach to combating this trend.
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Segment two:
State Senator Melissa Melendez and one of her constituents, Matt Capelouto, join Hal to talk about new legislation: SB 350, nicknamed "Alexandra’s Law" which she introduced as a way of dissuading offenders from re-offending, and increasing the penalties if they do.
The bill is named after Capelouto’s daughter Alexandra, who died after taking a counterfeit Oxycodone tablet. Capelouto says he is pushing legislators to pass this measure, but it is likely to be a long process before anything happens.
Segment three:
Author David Kessler is a world-renowned expert on grief, and Marc Berman is the Executive Director of the Organization for Social Media Safety.
Kessler also lost a child to a counterfeit drug overdose. He explains what happened to his son.
Berman is working to make social media safer for kids. He says parents need to be aware of and warn their children about ALL the dangers lurking on social media, including the risk of these counterfeit drugs. He recommends parents use software called "Bark" which alerts parents if any dangerous actions might be going on.
Kessler says the best thing to do with grief is to be open about it, and having a conversation about these matters might be uncomfortable, but it’s necessary.