Opioid Epidemic

Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is a nasal spray that helps reverse overdoses, and it may soon be coming to schools across Arizona. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen reports.

In this episode of John Hook's Newsmaker, we're talking with Josephine Dunn. She's the mother who lost her daughter, Ashley, following a fentanyl overdose in 2021. Ashley's legacy lives on in an act signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs named the "Ashley Dunn Act." Her mother talks about the fentanyl crisis and how she continues to fight for change. In the second segment, John Hook chats with SRP water expert, Charlie Ester, about the water crisis in Arizona and the pioneers who helped create water storage infrastructure.

DEA agents and authorities across Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Montana are seeing a spike in fentanyl seizures where in the past these spikes were just seen in major cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The opioid crisis in Arizona has been devastating but organizations and municipalities fighting the crisis just scored a big win. FOX 10's Brian Webb has more on what the crisis has done and how the money will be divvied.

Authorities have confiscated more than one million fentanyl pills over the last four days at the Nogales border port of entry.

The Ashley Dunn Bill, which mandates minimum prison sentences for fentanyl dealers, is named after a 26-year-old woman from Prescott who overdosed on a pill laced with fentanyl. Her family is celebrating the passing of the law but still mourning the loss of their daughter. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas has more.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety says troopers have recovered more than 1,500 pounds of fentanyl and other drugs in the last six months. This includes a seizure from last week when troopers found nearly 29 pounds of fentanyl pills, 165 pounds of methamphetamine, 2 pounds of heroin, a pound of cocaine, five guns and more than $20,000 in cash.

Police say 33-year-old Danny Mata was arrested after he had fentanyl powder in the presence of a 6-year-old child during a traffic stop.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hills requesting they approve funding for scanners that detect fentanyl. Mayes says more than half of all fentanyl seized in the United States was confiscated in Arizona.