The Napa-based Michael Leonardi Foundation will host a speech at the Yountville Community Center at 11 a.m. on March 15 about the dangers of the highly potent and lethal drug fentanyl, and the impact it has in the Napa community. Speaking at the event will be the journalist and best-selling author Sam Quinones.
The foundation's co-founder Mona Leonardi said in an interview with the Napa Valley Register that people should not underestimate fentanyl's impacts even in more rural communities like the Napa Valley.
"It's in every community," Leonardi said. "It is here in Napa and especially with young people."
The Leonardi foundation launched its first speaker series last year after creating awareness campaigns in partnership with Napa County, such as "One Pill can Kill." The foundation is partly funded by the county Health and Human Services Agency.
Leonardi has found that listening to experts discuss the drug crisis has been instrumental in her own education, and believes having them speak to the community helps raise awareness of the drug's dangers. The program's first speaker was the journalist Ben Westoff, author of "Fentanyl Inc."
"Experts like this who have been boots on the ground, who have been researching it and have (done) interviews with community members that are dealing with this crisis, they can really bring to the community what's going on," she said. "We got really good feedback from that."
Leonardi described Quinones as the foundation's top choice for this year's event, citing his knowledge about the rise of America's opioid epidemic.
Longtime Napa radio host Barry Martin will moderate the speaker event with Quinones, the author of "The Least of Us" and "Dreamland."
"It's a real issue and we feel that bringing it to the community and having an expert talk about it and answer their questions makes it real," said Leonardi.
Quinones's book "Dreamland" details the evolution of the opioid epidemic, while "The Least of Us" focuses on the effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking in U.S. communities.
According to a news release, the Yountville event will include a conversation between Martin and Quinones, followed by a Q&A session.
The event comes at a time when fentanyl has recently made news in the North Bay region. At the end of February, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that two high school students in Santa Rosa died of suspected fentanyl overdoses.
"We had the tragedy in Santa Rosa, which is very close to us," said Leonardi. "Even though we might not have large (overdose) statistics, we have young people that go away to college or move out of the county. Michael was that."
The Michael Leonardi Foundation is named for Mona Leonardi's son, who died of fentanyl poisoning while attending San Diego State University in 2020 after taking a pill he believed to be the painkiller Percocet.
"Somebody gave him a fake pill through Snapchat," his mother said. "It's very important to have these conversations in Napa County."
According to a Napa County website, a 2 mg dose of fentanyl, the size of two grains of salt, is enough to kill a person.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, drastically outpace deaths from other types of drugs. In 2022, some 75,000 people overdosed from synthetic opioid use. Pyschostimulants, primarily methamphetamine, were the second leading cause of overdose deaths with nearly 40,000 fatalities.
Ahead of the speaker event, Quinones will appear on KVON-FM 99.3 FM (The Vine) at 8:30 a.m. Monday with Martin to discuss his work and the fentanyl crisis.
The Yountville Community Center is at 6516 Washington St. Tickets for the event are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michael-leonardi-foundation-speaker-series-with-sam-quinones-tickets-1218205899639?aff=oddtdtcreator