2 years ago
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Calling fentanyl the “Fastest, Deadliest High,” billboards on Interstate 15 flash alternating images of the almighty synthetic opioid successful pulverization and counterfeit medicine pill forms.
The adjacent representation shows a smiling Giovanni Perkins with the words “ONE PILL WILL KILL” underneath his photo. To astir motorists, the radiant teen from Henderson is simply a stranger.
Not to Cristina Perkins.
“When I spot the 1 with his face, you know, I inactive deliberation ‘That’s my boy,’ ” she said, stifling a sob arsenic she stood underneath 1 of the billboard days aft they went unrecorded Oct. 22, connected what would person been her eldest son’s 19th birthday.
Giovanni Perkins died past twelvemonth aft taking a counterfeit Percocet pill laced with fentanyl, his parent said. The Clark County coroner’s bureau ruled his decease an mishap from fentanyl intoxication.
Known arsenic “Gio,” the 17-year-old was described arsenic a playful and affable lad with an infectious laugh.
He was 1 of 106 Nevadans younger than 25 who died of drug overdoses successful 2020, astir 3 times arsenic galore arsenic the erstwhile year, according to a study from the authorities Division of Public Health and Behavioral Health.
Law enforcement officials accidental that fentanyl — considered to beryllium up to 100 times stronger than morphine — is sidesplitting unsuspecting victims who deliberation they are taking medicine painkillers, specified arsenic oxycodone, Adderall and Xanax.
“A microgram of (fentanyl) tin termination you, and we request radical to recognize that,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal successful December. “They don’t cognize rather often what they’re buying connected the streets.”
Deaths rising
Fentanyl was blamed successful 219 deaths successful Clark County past year, a surge from 74 reported successful 2019, Metropolitan Police Department information shows.
Through October 2021, the synthetic opioid had killed 208 people, astir a 15 percent summation from 2020’s already precocious figures, according to the data.
Gio was 1 of 10 minors to dice from a fentanyl overdose successful Clark County successful 2020, an summation of 9 from the erstwhile year. In 2021, six minors had died from the opioid done October.
“I wholeheartedly expect the occupation to get worse,” Lombardo said.
Metro’s Overdose Response Team includes members from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Clark County coroner’s office. The task unit is progressively pursuing execution charges against cause peddlers.
“It’s similar pushing backmost connected the ocean,” Lombardo said. “We person to bash it a portion astatine a time, and we can’t crook a unsighted oculus to it and guarantee we’re being proactive.”
Education is cardinal to eradicating the epidemic, Lombardo said, noting that “we trust connected parents, too.”
Although it was excessively precocious to prevention her son, Perkins has made it her life’s ngo to support others from feeling her pain.
“I conscionable researched, I researched and I researched until I couldn’t work nary more,” she said astir fentanyl, which she knew thing astir anterior to her son’s death. “I researched until I couldn’t ticker capable videos.”
She past raised astir $18,000 connected GoFundMe to rent 10 billboards crossed the vale for six months. She hopes to rise much wealth to widen them astatine slightest six much months.
“We figured, if we enactment up billboards, adjacent if you don’t cognize our household personally, perchance you thrust by it and you spot it, you know, you tin beryllium funny and hopefully Google it and probe it yourself,” she said.
‘It was excessively late’
“That full greeting is simply a blur,” Perkins said of Aug. 28, 2020.
She was successful furniture erstwhile Gio’s panicked woman ran into her bedroom, saying thing was wrong.
The mates had planned to be a “senior sunrise event,” but helium was not waking up.
Perkins does not retrieve who called 911, but a dispatcher instructed them to laic the teen connected the level and statesman thorax compressions.
“I felt similar I was doing it for 100 years,” Perkins said.
The paramedics arrived minutes later, but heavy down, she said, she knew her lad was dead.
“You’re trying to bring your kid back,” she said. “But successful my head, I knew it was excessively late.”
Gio’s champion person since people school, Mason Atkins, got a telephone that greeting and rushed to Perkins’ home.
“My caput conscionable started spinning,” the 18-year-old said successful a telephone interview.
Gio was enrolled successful Desert Oasis High School and was astir to transportation to Odyssey Charter School to postgraduate aboriginal that December.
He enjoyed moving astatine a car lavation with friends — truthful overmuch truthful that Perkins’ parents had talked astir helping them commencement their ain business.
Although Gio was reaching adulthood, Perkins envisioned him surviving with the household for a fewer much years portion helium figured retired what helium wanted to bash successful life.
At a memorial balloon merchandise for Gio, a young antheral walked up to Perkins and told her that her lad had stood up for him erstwhile helium was being bullied.
“If I didn’t cognize Gio,” said Atkins, sobbing, “bringing maine into his household and making maine consciousness similar I was a household member, I wouldn’t similar the euphony I do, I wouldn’t enactment similar I do, I wouldn’t formal however I do. Gio influenced it all.”
People person told Perkins that “it volition get better.”
“It doesn’t, not 1 bit,” she said.
She foresees the extremity of each twelvemonth being the hardest: Gio died successful August, his day was successful October, and family-oriented holidays followed.
She described it arsenic clip with thing to look guardant to.
“You conscionable person to outcry it out,” she said. “You gotta fto it out.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez astatine rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him connected Twitter @rickytwrites.
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