San Diego State University Women’s Soccer Team Joins U.S. Attorney’s Office and City Attorney’s Office to Launch Fentanyl Awareness Campaign

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY-August 29, 2024

SAN DIEGO- The U.S. Attorney's Office, San Diego City Attorney's Office and the name, image, likeness (NIL) collective Aztec Link today launched a social media campaign featuring members of San Diego State University's women's soccer team to promote fentanyl awareness and overdose prevention. The campaign coincides with International Overdose Awareness Day being commemorated in San Diego County on August 29th.

The goal of this joint effort is to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl, to reduce accidental use or overdose, and in the event of an overdose, to educate students on how to save lives in an emergency.

U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath will be available for interviews regarding the campaign following the International Overdose Awareness Day press conference on August 29 at 9 a.m. at the County Administration building on Harbor Drive.

The student athletes are showcased in a video filmed at various locations on SDSU's campus, each reciting a line about the dangers of fentanyl, recognizing the signs of an overdose, and the importance of naloxone (also known by the brand name Narcan).

Naloxone is an opioid overdose reversal medication, available either as a nasal spray or an injector. Many pharmacies carry naloxone. In California, you can get naloxone from a pharmacist without a prescription. It is also possible to get naloxone from community-based distribution programs, local public health groups, or local health departments, free of charge. For more information about naloxone and how to get training on using it, visit: Naloxone Information.

This campaign uses the hashtags #TeamUp #SaveLives #InternationalOverdoseAwarenessDay. The social media public service announcement can be found here: SDSU Women's Soccer Team - Fentanyl Awareness Video

This is the second time that the U.S. Attorney's Office and the City Attorney's Office have teamed up to feature SDSU student athletes in partnership with a SDSU NIL collective. For this social media campaign, the offices partnered with Aztec Link, an NIL collective dedicated to partnering SDSU student athletes with businesses and organizations for promotions and endorsements while offering fans meaningful ways to support and connect with their favorite teams and players. Aztec Link was established after the NCAA began allowing student-athletes to receive compensation for the use of their NIL in 2021.

In the public service announcements, the student athletes state the following:

"Our goal is to team up and save lives.

We love spending time on the field, but we are also students.

Students who know that fentanyl kills.

And as a community, we need to defend ourselves from the dangers of fentanyl.

Fentanyl doesn't care about your age, or if you are just trying it for the first time.

If you are offered Adderall, Xanax, Percocet, Cocaine or any other drug not directly from a pharmacy,

It likely contains a deadly amount of fentanyl.

It's time for us to pass on our knowledge, assist our friends, and confront this epidemic.

We need to spread the word about the dangers of fentanyl. It's everywhere and in everything.

Know where Narcan is on campus such as Narcan vending machines.

Learn how to use Narcan and how to recognize the signs of an overdose

Such as losing consciousness, difficulty breathing, choking noises or discolored skin.

We believe in you. If you are worried about your friend overdosing and are unsure, deploy Narcan and call 911.

Let's make it our goal to team up and save lives.

And save lives.

And let's save lives!"

The campaign is being deployed over social media platforms, including Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, LinkedIn, and YouTube, by the individual student-athletes, Aztec Link, the Department of Justice, the San Diego State Athletic Department, and other coalition members.

"If you are worried about a friend who may have taken fentanyl or is unresponsive, call 911 and if necessary, administer naloxone," said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. "Know the dangers and how to help others. When athletes, educators, and law enforcement team up to amplify this critical message, we can save lives." McGrath thanked the SDSU women's soccer team for using their influence to spread the critical message about fentanyl and naloxone.

"We lose around 800 San Diegans every year to fentanyl," said City Attorney Mara Elliott. "While each of these deaths is tragic, I'm particularly struck by how many of those victims are college-aged students. My Office is proud to support the heroic efforts of these young women to educate their peers about the dangers of fentanyl and the lifesaving power of Narcan. This is exactly the type of communitywide effort that will be required to eradicate overdose deaths in San Diego."

The Good Samaritan law in California provides that, "…it shall not be a crime for a person under the influence of, or to possess for personal use, a controlled substance…if that person, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for another person experiencing a drug-related overdose…" Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11376.5.

One year ago, to commemorate National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the City Attorney's Office partnered with the SDSU men's basketball team and another NIL collective, the MESA Foundation, to create a public service announcement and media campaign that was believed to be the first such collaboration of its kind. The campaign has since received over a million impressions. For more information, visit:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-state-university-basketball-stars-join-us-attorneys-office-and-city.

Additional fentanyl prevention resources can be found at San Diego County's Community & Parent Toolkits, which are available in both English and Spanish.

The U.S. Attorney's Office's participation in the social media campaign with Aztec Link is not an endorsement of any product, service, or enterprise associated with Aztec Link.