The Okaloosa County School Board approved a proclamation Monday evening designating August 21, 2025, as “Fentanyl Education and Awareness Day.”

• The proclamation aligns with Florida Statute and aims to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl while supporting education and prevention efforts to protect youth and the community.

According to the resolution, thousands of lives are lost every year due to opioid and fentanyl overdoses, particularly affecting young adults and youth. The document states that fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance and synthetic opioid drug that is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

The proclamation notes that almost 600,000 lives were lost due to fentanyl last year and emphasizes that awareness and education are two of the greatest tools to fight the opioid public health crisis.

The Florida Legislature encourages the Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, local governments, public schools, and other agencies to promote awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and potential overdoses. These entities are charged with educating the public on fentanyl abuse and addiction, the availability of local school and community resources for drug prevention, and health issues including youth substance use.

Elizabeth Smith, Health Officer with the Department of Health-Okaloosa, attended the meeting and spoke following the vote.

• “Thank you so much for recognizing that day. It is such an important topic in our community because unfortunately we’ve been impacted by it,” Smith said. “The more awareness and education we can get out there, especially to our students, the better they can make informed decisions.”