City Attorney Wes Duncan Announces Sparks City Attorney Office’s Fentanyl Awareness Initiative “Shattered Lives: The Deadly Fallout of Fentanyl”

Sparks, NV - Today, City Attorney Wes Duncan announced the Sparks City Attorney Office's new initiative to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl entitled, "Shattered Lives: The Deadly Fallout of Fentanyl." City Attorney Duncan unveiled the initiative and six-minute video at the 2024 Northern Nevada Opioid Youth Summit at the Grand Sierra Resort. The initiative is aimed at raising awareness among teen and pre-teen students, parents, and the community at large about the dangers of fentanyl. The video features local residents impacted by fentanyl use and focuses on the devastating effect fentanyl had on their lives. As the City's Chief Prosecutor, Duncan plans to roll out the initiative by visiting area schools, partnering with other like-minded prevention groups, and getting the word out through the "Shattered Lives" video and other public appearances.

"Fentanyl overdoses are destroying our communities and the chance of encountering a potentially lethal dose has greatly increased," said Duncan. "Our aim with this initiative is to warn students of all ages, parents, and the citizens of Northern Nevada about how prevalent, accessible, and dangerous fentanyl is to our community. If you think this cannot happen to you or your child, you are wrong," Duncan continued.

City Attorney Duncan's approach to raising awareness about the danger of fentanyl is illustrated in the "Shattered Lives" video, which humanizes the impacts of fentanyl by interviewing residents from the region about the way fentanyl unexpectedly and tragically impacted their lives.

"The last thing I want to happen is for someone in our community to die of a fentanyl overdose. As a father of four children, we need to let parents know about how dangerous and common fentanyl is becoming in our community. To students in particular, we need to inform them that fentanyl is everywhere and the idea of a 'recreational drug' is a thing of the past. We are urging the community to act like every illegal substance has a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. I'm encouraging every resident to become familiar with the dangers of fentanyl because together we can make a difference to eliminate this poison in our community."

The "Shattered Lives" video has both a short and long version. The Short version details direct examples of the dangers of fentanyl, while the longer version provides both the dangers and the redemptive stories of the residents who told their stories about their encounters with fentanyl.

Media Contact from the Sparks City Attorney's Office:

Roxanne Doyle
[email protected]
(775) 353-2324

To Request a Presentation of the "Shattered Lives: The Dangers of Fentanyl" Video:

Nancy Ortiz

[email protected]

(775) 353-2324

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