AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Fentanyl poisonings continue to kill thousands of people across Texas. But the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show an encouraging sign. The numbers show a slight decrease in deaths in Texas, mirroring a nationwide decline that started showing up earlier this year.
Part of the credit for the decline can be attributed to increased awareness of the dangers of the drug, DEA officials say.
Last year, Texas took a new step towards fentanyl awareness when Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill known as Tucker’s Law that requires school districts to educate students in grades 6-12 about the drug. The bill is named after Tucker Roe, a 19 year old who died from fentanyl poisoning.
His mom, Stefanie Roe, helped push for the legislation. She founded the nonprofit Texas Against Fentanyl after Tucker’s death. Tucker was Stefanie’s firstborn and only son.
“He was born with just an adventurous little spirit, a lover of people, and just a real light in our family and in others,” Roe said.
After she lost her son in 2021, Stefanie founded Texas Against Fentanyl, a 501C3 founded to increase awareness, support and legislation surrounding the drug.
“In 2021 when I lost Tucker, I had no knowledge of illicit fentanyl. I had never heard of press pills. I did not know that teens were selling to teens, and seven out of 10 pills were lethal. And as a mom, that just struck me that I didn’t have the information to safeguard my son and give him knowledge of that poison,” Roe said.
Tucker’s Law took effect last year. Since then, Roe says schools have reached out to Texas Against Fentanyl to organize assemblies and bring in the Tucker Project to their school programming. Roe believes that knowledge about the drug is essential to save lives.
“If a student understands that, this is what it looks like. You can’t see it, you can’t taste it, you can’t smell it. It can be added to these things. This is the impact it has on the body. It’s not a just say no campaign. It’s to get educated so you can make better decisions,” Roe said.
Roe said there has been some confusion over how to teach the topic calling it an “unfunded mandate” for schools. She said Texas Against Fentanyl has been developing a curriculum alongside the Texas Education Agency to help schools.
With the next legislative session looming in January, Roe said there are changes to be made. She plans to push lawmakers to make improvements to Tucker’s Law along with implementing new legislation to improve testing at hospitals to increase accurate reporting on fentanyl deaths.
Roe said her group is also working to decriminalize fentanyl test strips. The test strips allow people to detect whether fentanyl is in the drugs they use. Texas is one of a few states where the strips are illegal, considered to be drug paraphernalia. Last session, a bill to decriminalize test strips passed the Texas House but failed to advance in the Senate.
Roe said Texas Against Fentanyl is relentless and will pull every stop to get legislation passed to help save lives. She compares the group to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which leveraged the power of parents to make significant policy changes.
“We’re mad moms who have lost our children to something that we did not have education on, and we’re not backing down,” she said.