A Pacific Grove student’s death due to fentanyl is a reminder of a deadly challenge.

Back when Covid-19 was an epidemic on its way to a pandemic, Monterey County law enforcement and medical professionals were focused on a wholly different deadly epidemic impacting young people: fentanyl-laced street drugs. Things got worse after the shutdown, with non-fatal fentanyl overdoses increasing 2.6 times between 2020 and 2021, from 74 to 195, according to Reb Close, an emergency room doctor at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and co-founder of Prescribe Safe.

How many people in Monterey County died from fentanyl overdoses in the same time period was not immediately available. It’s the fentanyl-caused death of a 15-year-old Pacific Grove boy, discovered on March 6, that has thrust the drug back into the spotlight. The case is still under investigation, according to a P.G. Police spokesperson. In the past 12 months, PGPD officers have responded to three juvenile overdoses and one adult overdose. All but the 15-year-old survived.

More people are surviving now thanks to use of the antidote naloxone. “We are seeing a lot more naloxone saves as we are getting more naloxone out into the community,” says Casey Grover, a fellow CHOMP emergency room physician and co-founder (with Close) of Prescribe Safe. He says by email they recorded 180 naloxone saves in 2021, up from 69 in 2020.

The Pacific Grove Unified School District responded to the boy’s death by arranging a community town hall scheduled for 6:30pm on Monday, March 28, led by Close and Grover. People may attend in person at the district office (435 Hillcrest Ave., Pacific Grove) or via Zoom at bit.ly/fentanyltownhall.