In the middle of night, a car was traveling at high speeds and became airborne launching itself into the second story of an office building. It sounds like something from an action movie, but it really happened last month here in our own backyard. You may think that the driver was drunk, but surprisingly, you’d be wrong. The driver was high off of narcotics according to the  Santa Ana Police Department. Usually, when people abuse narcotics the erratic actions that take place are due to the sense of a euphoric state. Narcotics affects the central nervous system by stimulating the opioid receptors. Opioids are a wide class of drugs that vary from illegal to the medicines we may find in our our cabinets at home legally. The most common illegal opioid is heroin and several legal ones include but are not limited to OxyContin, Vicodin, and Morphine. Recently, there’s been a crisis coined “the opioid epidemic” due to the rising popularity of opioid abuse.

 As I spoke to Corporal Anthony Bertagna, the Public Information Officer of the Santa Ana Police Department, he mentioned that the man who drove into the office building admitted to being on LSD. When under the influence of high doses of such drugs as LSD, the chemicals that are released into the person’s body bend the individual’s perception of time and space, resulting in that same euphoric high that many other opioids result in. The police department has been waiting for the toxicology report to confirm his substance abuse. Due to extensive injuries, the man was not arrested and is still awaiting arraignment. Corporal Anthony Bertagna mentioned that “Driving under the influence is a misdemeanor.” Which means that the suspect awaits little to no jail time. Bertagna’s opinion on drug abuse was simple, stating that,  “Drugs have always been a big issue everywhere.” He goes on to explain the reason why opioids on the street are getting more and more lethal. “Opioids found on the street are very dangerous,” Corporal Bertagna stated. Drug dealers who supply the opioid heroin began to add  chemicals such as Fentanyl and Carfentanil. These added substances have been the very reason for most of the opioid overdoses and fatalities. Fentanyl and Carfentanil are two different synthetic opioids, Carfentanil being the most lethal: a size no bigger than a grain of salt could kill you.

The opioid epidemic is one that we can even hear President Trump mention in his State of the Union Address. In his address, The president stated, “We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic,” “This epidemic is a national health emergency,” and “Opioids can be life threatening,” when asked about the growing crisis plaguing American neighborhoods. Over 66 percent  of the overdoses in the United States are due to the abuse of opioids. According to the CDC, more than 42,000 people died annually in the United States from opioid overdoses even though only about 40 percent of all people affected were actually prescribed opioids. Seven out of ten cases of overdoses in Orange County have been due to opioids, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. This is our neighborhood, and as the youth, we are the most affected. If anything, the time to rebel against this ruling epidemic is now. Solutions are not limited to: being harsher on drug dealers, not administering opioids when it is not necessary, etc. There has been an increase in opioid prescriptions, yet it does not correlate with the amount of pain that Americans report annually. We can start a new trend by fixing the opioid epidemic and with increased awareness we can help the younger generation learn from the past and avoid the mistake that has cost thousands of lives.

DASH CAM VIDEO: Bus barely misses getting hit by a car that went airborne and crashes into 2nd floor of a Santa Ana dental office. We showed you surveillance of 2 near misses, including this bus. Now, a look from the bus driver’s view. @nbcla @KHOLMESlive pic.twitter.com/WiMCXr0RF4

— Christine Kim (@ChristineNBCLA) January 16, 2018