Lafayette council addresses local fentanyl crisis in letter to President Biden
Lafayette council sends fentanyl crisis letter to President Biden
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- The Lafayette city council unanimously agreed to send a letter to President Joe Biden asking the United States Government to use all available resources in the fight against fentanyl.
On Tuesday, City Council members Liz Hebert and Andy Naquin introduced the vote during the regular council meeting.
Councilwoman Hebert says Tuesday's fentanyl resolution was brought to the city council's attention by one of her constituents who had a family member who died from fentanyl.
Lafayette Podiatry Specialist Dr. James Noriega spoke before the council.
"We don't call them overdoses anymore. They're poisonings because she wasn't planning on dying that night. She took one little pill that was laced. She was a small girl. It was just too much for her little system and she passed," Dr. Noriega stated.
The city council wants the federal government to take all available measures necessary to stop the production of illicit fentanyl and its trafficking saying the end goal is to reduce or eliminate the presence of illicit fentanyl in the city of Lafayette.
"Our hope is that other cities will start doing the same resolution. If we get 50% or 60% of our cities doing this, they got to make a change," Noriega said.
Hebert says the parish coroner reports seeing an increase in fentanyl-related deaths as well.
According to the resolution, the call to action includes President Biden, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, the United States Secretary of State, the United States Attorney General, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"Because we're not seeing from the current administration federal level any sort of action of trying to stop the tracking of fentanyl. This is just us at a local level saying Mr. President, members at the federal level, please listen to us and hear us at the Lafayette level. We want something done because this is affecting us in our community," Hebert explained.
Councilman Naquin says across the nation there are 200 fentanyl-related deaths per day.
"Per day it's 200 young kids and I'm talking about under 30. It's a travesty what's going on in this country and it's an attack on our young people today," Naquin added.