SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) – The community of Santa Rosa is mourning the loss of two teenagers this week who died from fentanyl overdoses. Harm reduction advocates say now is the time to educate teens to avoid another death.
Charlie Ternan was a senior at Santa Clara University when he died of a fentanyl overdose. His parents Ed and Mary Ternan formed the nonprofit Song For Charlie in his memory to educate young people about the risks of drug use.
“A lot of young people are dying essentially from a lack of information, so if we can get good information out to them we think we can prevent some tragedies,” Ed said.
Tragedies including what happened Saturday in Santa Rosa when an 18-year-old man and 16-year-old girl were found dead from fentanyl overdoses.
Friends and family have laid flowers and cards at Montgomery High School and Santa Rosa High School where the two were students. Ternan says there are several tools to prevent another death, Narcan included.
“Every student should have Narcan in their backpack. Every family should have Narcan in their medicine chest. It is a life-saving anecdote to an opioid overdose,” Ed said.
Ternan says the current drug landscape is a minefield full of risks. His first lesson for kids is to avoid the risk by not using, but he knows that won’t work for everyone.
He travels to about four schools a month to talk about things like fentanyl testing strips, Narcan and his son’s story. He thinks Charlie would still be alive if he had the right drug education taught to him.
“Young people are at high risk and are overdosing and many instances dying because they are getting fentanyl unknowingly when they are looking for something else,” he said.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) – The community of Santa Rosa is mourning the loss of two teenagers this week who died from fentanyl overdoses. Harm reduction advocates say now is the time to educate teens to avoid another death. Charlie Ternan was a senior at Santa Clara University when he died of a fentanyl overdose. […]
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