US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) met with the families of kids who have died from fentanyl overdoses Monday and says he is drafting a bill to prevent them in the future. Cornyn's office says more than 1,600 Texans died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021, an 89% increase from 2020.
In addition to fentanyl becoming the leading cause of death of Americans ages 18 to 49, four students in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Plano ISD have died from overdoses this school year.
Cornyn heard from the parents of several students, including Lilia Astudillo. Her 14 year old son died from an overdose.
"He was just a child with his whole life ahead of him, but fentanyl doesn't discriminate," she said.
"We had heard about fentanyl. We talked about it with my daughter. We talked about drugs all the time, but her friends convinced her, like kids do through peer pressure, to take a Percocet. She took a Percocet, and that was it," said Ryan Vaughn, whose 16 year old daughter died in February.
The superintendents of Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Plano ISD attended along with Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo and Lance Sumpter, director of the Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
"We can gather together and talk through the issues we are all facing," CFBISD Superintendent Wendy Eldredge said. "When a life is taken from us way too soon, it's a tragedy, and it's a tragedy where we all have to work together."
Eldredge said each student who died represents someone who had parents, siblings and friends.
"We hope by continuing this community effort and conversation, we will save more lives," she said.
Cornyn said he is still drafting a bill, but with the input from families, school leaders and law enforcement, he can more accurately identify their needs.
"One of the main things the federal government can do is help support state and local law enforcement," he said.
Cornyn said his bill would likely include steps to provide more support for law enforcement to dismantle fentanyl operations that make pills to look like approved drugs like Percocet or Xanax. He said pills are made by cartels and come across the border as agents' attention is diverted by an "overwhelming" volume of migrants.
"This is all about money. Transnational criminal organizations, sometimes we call them cartels, couldn't care less about our children, our community. All they care about is the money from the sale of these drugs," Cornyn said.
He said the bill would also broaden access to treatment options to help families and school districts.
Also attending was the director of special projects for Recovery Resource Council, a non-profit that works with school districts across North Texas and says it helps more than 40,000 kids learn about substance abuse each year.
"Our kids need to be educated on the realities of substance use and the dangers of it but also empowered on how to make healthier and safer choices," Becky Tinney said. "They need to know there are better ways to accomplish whatever they're trying to accomplish by using those illicit substances."
Tinney said the group can reach more kids in schools than anyplace else, so she says a bill that includes prevention would be a "proactive" step toward making a long-term impact.
She said Recovery Resource Council launched an overdose response team in Tarrant County last year and expanded into Dallas County this year. Tinney said each team includes a paramedic and certified peer support specialist.
Those teams make connections with someone who survived an overdose within three days to offer education, resources and connections.
"Connections to a team of professionals who can work with these clients and their families on an individual level, assessing their unique situations and providing support and guidance that have the potential to lead to a long-term solution," Tinney said, saying the Dallas program responded to 59 overdoses in its first two months.
Cornyn did not have a timeline for the bill, but he said a measure would likely come within weeks.
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