National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Event Focuses on Fentanyl

By Redaccion
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The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office will host a ceremony at Ventura College commemorating National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) on April 25, 2024. The event in Guthrie Hall takes place from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will include speakers and a march to raise awareness about crime victims. The event has been hosted by the District Attorney’s Office since 1981.

The theme for 2024 is “Fentanyl Awareness & Prevention: Options, Services and Hope for Crime Survivors.” Fentanyl is a highly addictive and often deadly synthetic drug. It is estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is one of the most common drugs associated with overdose deaths in the United States. In 2023, the Ventura County Medical Examiner reported 265 overdose deaths. Fentanyl was found in the system of 178 of the overdose victims.

“The focus of this year’s event is to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl,” District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said. “Fentanyl overdose deaths are devastating too many of our Ventura County families. Please come to our event, learn what we’re doing to address the problem and march with us in support of crime victims.”

The ceremony will honor Fay Martin with the Resilience Award. Martin lost her son, Ryan Malcolm, to a fentanyl overdose in 2021. Since that time, she has been working to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl. Law enforcement detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and Simi Valley Police Department will also be honored. They will receive the Justice for Victims Award along with the entire Ventura County Fentanyl and Overdose Crimes Unit (VC FOCUS), for their tireless advocacy on behalf of victims of fentanyl. District Attorney Erik Nasarenko will serve as the keynote speaker.

More than 25 community-based organizations and governmental agencies will be on hand providing information about victims’ rights and resources for the public. This includes Ventura County Public Health and Ventura County Behavioral Health which will provide Naloxone, the lifesaving medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.

The event will conclude with a march around part of the Ventura College campus and food will be provided by the Habit Burger food truck sponsored by the Ventura County Family Justice Center Foundation.

The public is invited to attend and can register here.