WHEREAS, fentanyl poisoning is an epidemic that is devastating communities and families across the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation; and

WHEREAS, fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance and a synthetic opioid drug that is approximately one hundred times more potent than morphine and fifty times more potent than heroin as an analgesic; and

WHEREAS, fentanyl is often used as an additive or substitute to other drugs and unknowingly encountered by users, increasing the risk of fatal poisoning, and awareness is one of our greatest tools to fight the opioid public health crisis; and

WHEREAS, fatal drug poisonings accounted for more deaths in Virginia than motor vehicle-related deaths and gun-related deaths combined for each year since 2020; and

WHEREAS, a lethal dose of dry fentanyl powder can be as little as 2 milligrams (mg), and one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill over five-hundred thousand individuals; and

WHEREAS, fatal drug poisoning has been the leading method of unnatural death in Virginia since 2013, specifically driven by illicit fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, fentanyl has become the leading cause of the current opioid crisis, and Virginia recorded 2021 as the worst year for fatal drug overdoses in Virginia with seventy-six percent of deaths caused by fentanyl, over ninety-eight percent of which was produced illicitly; and

WHEREAS, illicit fentanyl is the leading cause of drug-related deaths, almost all of which are being illegally smuggled into the United States; and

WHEREAS, naloxone is a life-saving medicine in the form of a nasal spray that can revive the person who has suffered from the negative effects of opioids and allow emergency personnel time to respond; and

WHEREAS, the Right Help, Right Now plan combats Virginia’s fentanyl poisoning epidemic through recovery support for those affected by substance use disorder; and

WHEREAS, the Right Help, Right Now plan transforms Virginia’s behavioral healthcare system and includes same-day care, broadened access to naloxone across the Commonwealth, and education on programs for prevention, crisis intervention, and recovery support; and

WHEREAS, across Governor Youngkin’s Administration, there has been critical collaboration to combat fentanyl poisoning; and

WHEREAS, First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin leads the It Only Takes One initiative in coordination with Attorney General Jason Miyares' One Pill Can Kill campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Secretariat lead two Operation Free (Fentanyl Awareness, Reduction, Enforcement, and Eradication) partnerships where they seized over 550 pounds of illicit fentanyl in a 45-day period; and

WHEREAS, the Health and Human Resources Secretariat, in coordination with Right Help, Right Now, continues to lead in offering REVIVE! trainings that teach individuals how to recognize those suffering an opioid encounter and administer naloxone, which is provided at no cost to participants; and

WHEREAS, together, these coordinated efforts underscore the Administration's unwavering commitment to protecting Virginians from the devastating impact of fentanyl poisoning, contributing to a more than 40% reduction in fatal fentanyl deaths in Virginia since October 2022 and earning the Commonwealth the CDC’s recognition for achieving the nation’s largest percentage decrease in fatal drug deaths between November 2023 and November 2024;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize April 29, 2025, as FENTANYL AWARENESS DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all of our citizens.