New Billboard Campaign Warns SoCal: Fentanyl is the #1 Cause of Death for Americans Age 18 to 45

NEW REPORT: California #1 in Nation for Fentanyl Deaths
familiesagainstfentanyl.org/california-factsheet

Los Angeles, CA — The nonpartisan, non-profit Families Against Fentanyl (FAF) is launching a new billboard campaign in southern California. The billboards, located in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, carry a stark warning: Fentanyl is the #1 Cause of Death for Americans Age 18 to 45. That dire statistic was first uncovered and published by FAF’s research team in 2021, which is the latest full year for which data is available from the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

FAF also released a new analysis of the state of the illicit fentanyl epidemic in California. Families Against Fentanyl found that California ranked #1 in the nation for synthetic opioid* (fentanyl) deaths in 2021, surpassing Ohio and Florida for the first time. FAF also reports that fentanyl deaths are rising faster in California than in the nation overall, increasing more than 2,631% in the state since 2015, or 27-fold. Other key findings include:

• Fentanyl deaths increased almost four times faster in California than in the United States overall since 2015.

• Over one in four fentanyl deaths in California was among people ages 25 to 34 in 2021 and more than half of all fentanyl deaths in California were among people ages 25 to 44 in 2021.

• Young people aged 15 to 24 made up a significantly larger share of total fentanyl deaths in California than in the U.S. overall, underscoring the need for greater awareness among this demographic.

• Fentanyl deaths among California teens nearly tripled in just two years from 2019 to 2021.

“Deaths are soaring in California and across the US and our young people are at risk. It’s time to treat this threat with the urgency it deserves. We are calling for the Biden Administration to declare illicit fentanyl, and its analogs, a weapon of mass destruction and immediately establish a White House task force dedicated to the fentanyl crisis. Americans deserve to know what is being done to save lives, and what is being done to uncover and stop the international manufacturers and traffickers of illicit fentanyl. This is the number one killer of our nation’s young adults. It is killing more and more children and young adults each year,” said Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl.

Families Against Fentanyl selected southern California for the billboard campaign based on popular demand from the non-profit’s thousands of grassroots supporters. FAF would like to thank Lamar billboards for their generous in-kind contribution that allowed us to launch this initiative. The organization is launching a crowdfunding campaign to expand the billboards to other areas. Those wishing to support the campaign are invited to donate at:  FamiliesAgainstFentanyl.org/actions. 

The California billboards are located at:

• Los Angeles County: 5 Freeway south of Slauson Ave facing North and targets commuter traffic traveling between Downtown Los Angeles and Orange County, a known bottleneck area and in close proximity to the Citadel Outlets and Commerce Casino.

• Orange County: 57 Freeway, 1/2 MI. north of 91 FWY, facing south

• Los Angeles County: I - 10 Freeway 1/2 mile east of Peck Rd facing East: This East facing unit targets commuter traffic going Westbound towards Los Angeles

• Los Angeles County: I - 710 Freeway north of I-105, facing South reaches traffic traveling North towards Downtown L.A. from Long Beach and The Port of Los Angeles

• Los Angeles County: I - 710 Freeway north of I-105, facing North reaches traffic traveling South towards Long Beach and The Port of Los Angeles from Downtown Los Angeles. This board is situated at the interchange ramp to the 105 Freeway, which leads traffic towards LAX Airport.

Media Inquiries: press@familiesagainstfentanyl.org

*Our research team used the CDC’s ICD-10 medical code T40.4, “other synthetic narcotics,” in order to conduct our data analysis - in alignment with CDC medical code guidelines. The drugs that fall into this category include fentanyl and tramadol, though it is widely accepted that nearly all of the deaths assigned this code were caused by fentanyl or its analogues. The CDC refers to these fatalities as “synthetic opioids (fentanyl).”