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October marks the first ever Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month in Texas as established by Governor Greg Abbott this year.

In order to help the state continue its fight against this dangerous and deadly drug, the Texas Department of Public Safety is increasing its public awareness campaign and reminding Texans to take action now in order to help save lives.

DPS Director Steven McCraw said fentanyl continues to be one of the biggest threats facing Texans of all ages as it flows across our southern border and into cities and towns across this country.

“We are losing too many innocent lives and we must continue to do everything we can not only to stop it from entering the United States, but also to educate our children, our parents, our teachers – everyone in our communities about how dangerous this drug is to every single American,” McCraw said.

In March 2021, at the direction of Abbott, DPS launched Operation Lone Star to secure the border and stop the smuggling of drugs and people into Texas; and prevent, detect and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.

DPS has seized over 431 million lethal doses of fentanyl across the state since OLS began, according to authorities.

The department’s Safety Education team is also offering specialized programing to schools, churches, community groups and other organizations that would like to learn more about the statewide One Pill Kills campaign and the dangers of fentanyl.

This presentation can be tailored for a variety of audiences and age groups and is available free of charge.

To learn more, contact a Safety Education team member in your area using dps.texas.gov/tle/contact.

Visit dps.texas.gov/onepillkills to learn more.