Orange County Officials, Victims Share Uphill Battle With California’s Stance on Fentanyl

Orange County Officials, Victims Share Uphill Battle With California’s Stance on Fentanyl
Parents of Fentanyl victims speak in Santa Ana, Calif., on April 24, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times
John Fredricks
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SANTA ANA, Calif.—Dozens of photographs of once-smiling people who have recently died of fentanyl overdoses lined the walls of the shared courtyard of the Orange County District Attorney and sheriff department April 24, where officials and loved ones gathered for a Crime Victims Rights ceremony.

“I’ve spent a lot of my career all over the world whether it was Afghanistan in the army, working in South America as an administrator, or also dealing with drug issues as a federal prosecutor here in Orange County prosecuting drug cases, but nothing like the [drug] epidemic we have seen now,” Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) told the roughly 100 attendance via a pre-recorded video. “To what’s caused by, created by, and contributed to fentanyl.”

John Fredricks
John Fredricks
Author
John Fredricks is a California-based journalist for The Epoch Times. His reportage and photojournalism features have been published in a variety of award-winning publications around the world.
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