Placer County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Lisa Botwinik spoke at the assembly, sharing the spread and risks of Fentanyl in Placer County

Fentanyl Awareness Assembly Educates, Impacts Students

By Lilly McDougal

March 7th, 2025

The Placer County District Attorney's office and parents of fentanyl poisoning victims spoke to LHS students about the dangers of fentanyl at an assembly Tuesday, February 25th, branded as “One Pill Can Kill.”

One Pill Can Kill is a campaign run by the Placer County District Attorney's Office, which is an effort to educate young communities about the dangers of fentanyl, the leading cause of death of young people in our country.

“The goal is for students to become more aware of the risks of fentanyl. What it is, what it looks like, how to spot it, and how to help support people who may have overdosed on fentanyl, as well as to talk about stress management and how to be able to turn to other ways of coping aside from using medications.” Principal Jennifer Hladun said.

The assembly was held twice. Once for 9th and 10th graders, and another time for the 11th and 12th graders. The reactions between the upperclassmen and underclassmen were similar. Students like Freshman Torre Ridgeway believe the assembly was very important.

“I think it brings to light how at risk we are, it brings to light how many young people die from it, how people of all ages die from it, how the drug’s landscape has changed. I think it’s just really important overall.” Ridgeway said.

Many students were deeply impacted by the parents' stories. Junior Carlos Ramirez noticed the emotions throughout the crowd.

“I noticed some people crying, and it's good to let out your feelings because it brings more awareness to everybody to be more cautious of not only what's happening on your phone but around the world because stuff like this happens on a daily basis,” Ramirez said. “We always just seem to forget about it because our lives are good but not everyone is in the best situation.”

A parent who spoke at the assembly, Chris Didier, shared a story of his son who passed away from fentanyl poisoning.

“When Zach had his opening night for [High School Musical], he was really afraid of his soccer buddies seeing him in the play, because he thought they would be embarrassed and I reminded him, ‘you know that’s the plot of the whole play,’ but Zach’s soccer friends came to support him and theres a photo after the play and his friends were holding him up and he's got a big smile,” Didier said. “Well, tragically later that year those friends were carrying his casket.”

Although Didier has been to hundreds of assemblies and meetings, he still struggles with speaking about the tragedy that happened to his son.

“It’s never easy to talk about,” Didier said. “Some days might be a little easier, each one is as unique as your fingerprint, because the setting is different, the audience size is different, the energy is different. Some are really intense because a student may say, “I know your son and here is what he did for me. Here's how he helped me.’”

As efforts to limit students’ access to harmful substances continue, some believe certain measures could reduce street-level availability. Junior Alecia Ebbitt thought that although the assembly was educational, some students would still try to get drugs if they wanted to.

“I don’t think it would completely stop kids from doing it,”  Ebbitt said. “But I feel like they’d try to get it from different sources, but not off the street.”

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Lisa Botwinik of the Placer County District Attorney’s office hopes that their efforts will impact the attending students.

“I think the combination of facts that they get from me and the personal stories of the parents,” Botwinik said. “We hope that the combination makes it impactful enough so that students actually take the information in and take it home with them.”

The only thing parents, schools, and others can do is to educate their child as much as possible and hope it will influence their actions in the future.

“We can't know for sure if it’s because they came to an assembly or because they saw a billboard or just their own general awareness," Botwinik said. “But we can hope that we maybe had something to do with it.”