On Wednesday, the Glenwood Springs and Basalt police departments, along with Cath Adams, founder of Aperture of Hope, will host a public conversation about the dangers of fentanyl from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Glenwood Springs City Hall, 101 West Eighth St. 

Adams and other presenters will share stories, data and drug safety resources, including information on naloxone, in hopes of bringing awareness to the dangers of the synthetic opioid, which is the primary driver behind overdose deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“A lot of the time we are under the impression that it’s not in our valley, not in our town, but that’s just not the case,” Wendy Bautista, Glenwood Springs Police Department executive specialist, said. 

Adams is intimately familiar with the dangers of fentanyl: her daughter, Emily Adams, died after an accidental exposure to the drug in 2020. 

Emily took a pill given to her by a friend — what she thought was Percocet — for a toothache and died of a fentanyl overdose. The Yampah Mountain High School graduate was 21 years old. 

“I feel that this conversation, having both ends, the police department and someone that has had the lived experience, my daughter, passing through accidental exposure, brings in a beautiful element,” Adams said. “You get the people out in the action, people that see it, then you get someone who has lost a child. It’s humanizing.”

Typically prescribed for patients with severe pain, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Depending on variables such as body weight and height, as little as 2 milligrams of the drug can be lethal. 

“You might trust that person who’s giving you that pill, like they’re okay, I’m friends with them, or I know them, but where did they get them?” Adams said. “If it’s not prescribed by your doctor, it’s not in prescription bottles, you haven’t picked it up from the pharmacy, don’t take it.”

The low-cost opioid is often mixed with other illicit drugs to increase their potency, pressed into pills imitating prescription opioids and sold as powders and nasal sprays on the illegal drug market, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The landscape of illicit drugs has changed. Teens now, or people, or just anyone in general, when you take a drug, you can die because you don’t know if fentanyl is mixed in your cocaine or your marijuana,” Adams said. “It’s not the choice that is made. We all have choices, but our decisions, our choices, we should learn from those, not die from those. Now we’re not given that opportunity.”

Although overdose deaths in the U.S. dropped 16.6% from June 2023 to June 2024, fentanyl remains a major contributor. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are involved in nearly 70% of overdose deaths, according to the CDC.

Adams, often accompanied by her youngest daughter, Ashley Adams, spreads awareness about the deadly fentanyl crisis through regular presentations at local schools and organizations. 

After presenting, Adams asks students to fill out note cards with “words of wisdom,” which she then places in Emily’s old backpack. 

“My friends and I have talked about trying drugs once we were old enough,” one student wrote. “Cath’s presentation made me change my mind. Thanks for that and I am very sorry for your loss.”