Imperial Valley leaders must address ongoing drug addiction crisis
With the recent string of overdose deaths across Imperial Valley one would assume that we are suddenly experiencing an unprecedented drug and addiction crisis. In reality, this crisis has existed for an uncomfortably long time.
Our Imperial Valley has been experiencing a drug and addiction crisis for over a century. Whether “happy-dust,” “chloral,” or heroin, the Imperial Valley’s addiction to drugs began “claiming victims from all classes” in 1915.
Two decades later, January 21, 1935, Calexico physician, Dr. Charlotte Braginton would warn of the alarming use of heroin among young adults and proclaim, “the public does not realize the widespread use of narcotics.”
In 1944, Baja, California Gov. General Juan Felipe Rico declared open war on opium trafficking after another massive amount of narcotics destined for California was seized in the valley’s sister city of Mexicali.
On April 23, 1952, standing before the Kiwanis Club at Hotel De Anza, Customs Agent Rae V. Vader would share that the answer to the rapidly increasing use of narcotics among local teenagers was “not new laws, but education.”
In 1962, Detective Sergeant Joe Sutton ran for county sheriff because of the rising threat of youth drug addiction and cited the 400% increase in juvenile arrests for drug possession over the previous decade.
In 1970, Dr. Thomas Hindle and several teenage addicts made a public plea before the Imperial County board of supervisors on the local need for treatment and rehabilitation services. One month later, while home on leave, Calexico’s 18-year old Navy seaman Dale Brundy would be found dead from an accidental overdose. His tragic death, the first from a local, prominent family, spurred agencies countywide to take action.
Drugs and addiction were not just isolated to the valley’s southern border – the 1977 annual, local “Methadone Report” would refer to Eastside Brawley as the “heroin capital of the world.”
In a 1986 Los Angeles Times article, local officials estimated that Imperial County had “the highest per capita heroin use in the state.”
The 90s would continue to see an increasing amount of drug seizures, while Brawley remained “the Valley’s historic hot spot for heroin.”
Today, data reveals opioid emergency room visits and overdose death rates in Imperial Valley far exceed the state average while we become accustomed to headlines of accidental overdose deaths.
Baja, California recently issued a maximum alert in anticipation of fentanyl becoming the most consumed drug in the state and, late last year, the surrounding counties of San Diego and Riverside declared fentanyl a public health crisis. All this leaving Imperial Valley, alone, in the eye of this seemingly never-ending storm.
After receiving letters from the cities of Brawley and Calexico, the Imperial County board of supervisors recently acknowledged our local fentanyl crisis following a joint presentation by the county’s Behavioral Health Services and sheriff’s office.
A presentation that emphasized the holistic and enforcement components this crisis warrants. With Brawley’s historic appetite for opiates and Calexico home to Dr. Amalia Katsigeanis, John Steppling, Hildy Carillo and Norma Apodaca — longtime advocates calling for increased access, opportunities and dignity for substance users — it was only destined for these two cities to be at the forefront of addressing our valley’s hundred year problem.
Although the present focus is on fentanyl, as it should be due to the sheer amount of death it has brought, the crisis at-hand goes much deeper than the drug itself.
History has shown that without a comprehensive approach to eradicate a narcotic while simultaneously addressing the core issue of addiction will only see the substance inevitably replaced by something cheaper, stronger and deadlier.
Too many lives have been lost – and continue to be lost. Let our collective effort to address our valley’s drug and addiction crisis unify local governing bodies, community leaders, healthcare agencies, law enforcement, community and faith-based organizations, and families to come together and identify real solutions for a crisis over one hundred years in the making.
A century-long problem will require all of us, as well as honest and dignified conversations surrounding the fine balance of punishment, opportunity, accountability and redemption for those seeking and needing help.
Gil Rebollar is a lifelong resident of the Imperial Valley and currently serves on the Brawley City Council. In addition, as a District representative, he represents seven Imperial Valley cities on the Southern California Association of Governments' (SCAG) Regional Council. His email is GRebollar@brawley-ca.gov
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Imperial Valley leaders must address ongoing drug addiction crisis
