Harmony Place Says Public Awareness Is Key To Solving The Problem

Harmony Place Says Public Awareness Is Key To Solving The Problem

Harmony Place, a treatment facility in Woodland Hills, California for those with mental health and addiction challenges, is a warning to recreational drug users that even if they are not seeking out fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid is being laced in a wide range of other substances. The warning is being issued given recent statistics that the U.S. ...

... is experiencing a fentanyl epidemic that is now claiming the lives of some 200 Americans each day. According to David Cohen, LCSW at Harmony Place, a treatment facility in Woodland Hills, California for those with mental health and addiction challenges, this little known fact is greatly contributing to the nation's deadly game of Russian Roulette.

\"We need to increase public awareness that fentanyl is being laced in commonly consumed drugs and it's for this reason that we are seeing a dramatic rise in fatalities. Many of our clients who just barely survived their overdoes had no idea that they had even taken fentanyl,\" says Cohen, who explains that even small amounts of the drug can quickly result in death.

\"Illicit drug manufacturers and dealers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other substances because it is inexpensive to produce, only small doses are needed to produce a high desired by unwitting users and it can be transported easily since only small quantities are required. Even though the last thing the drug trade wants to do is kill off their market, they nonetheless will lace the more expensive drugs with the relatively cheap fentanyl to increase profits.\"

\"I'm afraid that we're falling back on the failed policies of the 1980s' 'war on drugs' and that many politicians are unaware that doing so not only won't solve the problem but might even aggravate it,\" says Cohen. Those with drug problems need treatment, not jail time.

\"Cohen says a number of states are introducing stricter drug laws including Virginia, which is proposing classifying fentanyl as a \"weapon of terrorism\" and Tennessee where a teenager was charged with two counts of second degree murder after she and friends took fentanyl-laced cocaine. \"We all want this epidemic to end and lives be saved,\" says Cohen, who reveals that nearly 38 million American kids 12+ use illegal drugs and have done so within the last 30 days.

Find out more at: https://harmonyplace.com/