Steve Muth lost Zachary, 23-year-old son, from fentanyl overdose while still in college.
Parents who have personally suffered the lethal effects of fentanyl after losing their own children to opiate overdoses are alerting others of the dangers as officials try to stop the poison from flooding the southern border of the United States.
Data indicates Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and first lady Suzanne Youngkin’s efforts are paying off as they run a series of programs aiming at stopping the fentanyl influx into the state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report Virginia topping the country in year-over-year percentage declines in drug overdose deaths.
“Governor Youngkin and his administration’s approach to stopping the scourge of fentanyl stands on four principles: interrupt the drug trade, enhance penalties for drug dealers, educate people about the dangers of fentanyl, and equip them to save the life of someone in crisis,” Peter Finocchio, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Everyone must know the danger posed by fentanyl: it only takes one pill to kill.”
Through teaching parents how to recognize the symptoms of a drug overdose and administer naloxone (Narcan), the government’s “It Only Takes One” campaign seeks to inform parents on the risks around fentanyl.
“We passed new laws banning pill presses, notifying parents of overdose in their child’s school and finally establishing a new felony to hold accountable drug dealers whose victims die from an overdose,” Youngkin said in a press release. “The First Lady launched ‘It Only Takes One,’ a comprehensive education and engagement initiative to give parents, family members, educators, and caretakers the knowledge they need to warn their loved ones about the dangers of fentanyl.”
With early data showing a 24% decline for the 12 months ending in September 2024, the program coincides with drug overdose mortality throughout the nation at their lowest point since June 2020. According to the CDC.
For other parents, however, the drop in mortality represents very little after losing their own children to drug overdoses.
Zachary, Steve Muth’s only kid, passed away in February 2021 at 23 years old after ingesting a fentanyl-laced tablet. Zachary was a college student and fraternity member who picked a Xanax pill from a friend who unintentionally included fentanyl.
“It can happen to anyone, because my son looked me in the eye and said it would never happen to him,” Muth told Fox News Digital. “He said that all his friends have Narcan, and so I think, first and foremost, if there’s any notification that [kids are] dabbling in anything foreign on campus, get control of it immediately. Just make sure they stay away from anything and everything, and if you have to get them out of that school or that fraternity, because it’s a real problem.”
Muth co-founded ZEM Life with board-certified anesthesiologist Dr. Joanna Sawyer following the loss of his son. Working to create a smartwatch that can detect the symptoms of a drug overdose and automatically administer a possibly life-saving Narcan dose to the wearer, the tech startup is
Sawyer argues that one of the main risks associated with fentanyl is its fast entry into a person’s system; the drug’s lethal effects take over practically instantly.
“It’s an extremely potent synthetic drug where just thousands of grams can cause someone to stop breathing,” Sawyer told Fox News Digital. “We’re finding in our communities [that] these pills contain massive doses of the drug; there’s enough coming into our country to kill millions. The danger is that there’s no way to control what’s in something that someone is getting on the street, and it’s likely extremely dangerous.”
Apart from the initiatives of the Virginia first lady to shield families from loss resulting from overdose, Gov. Youngkin has sought to eradicate illegal substances finding their way into Virginian hands.
Working with federal, state, and local law enforcement, Youngkin’s Operation FREE is stopping illegal narcotics flow into the state.
“Overdose deaths skyrocketed across America and in Virginia driven primarily by illicit fentanyl flowing across our southern border,” Youngkin said in a press release. “With an average of five [Virginians dying] each day, in 2022 we launched a comprehensive effort to stop the scourge of fentanyl, it’s working, and Virginia is leading.”
Since it was revealed in May 2023, the alliance has arrested more than 2,500 people across Virginia and confiscated almost 55,350 pounds of illegal narcotics, including 800 pounds of fentanyl. Laws prohibiting pill presses, mandating school staff members to notify parents of overdose symptoms within 24 hours, and adding a new felony punishment for drug traffickers accused of supplying drugs resulting in a death have also been passed by state legislators.
Declaring the opioid a “weapon of terrorism,” Virginia has also opened an avenue to impose charges of terrorism on drug-related offenses.
Youngkin said, “There is much more work to be done, but all Virginians are grateful for the leadership of the First Lady and our Fentanyl Family Ambassadors, all of our state agencies, and our amazing federal partners including President [Donald] Trump, Attorney General [Pam] Bondi, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Agency.”
Muth said the risks may permeate any family after his son passed dead from a fentanyl overdose as state and federal officials work to eradicate the drug’s presence in communities all throughout the nation.
“There are so many deaths that take place from fentanyl,” Muth said. “My son was not a drug addict. He functioned, he worked, he went to school. Did he have weaknesses at parties? Absolutely, just like all of us do. It’s the everyday person, and that’s the biggest misconception. These are more than drug addicts; they’re human beings that are part of the community, going to school, [my son] was a hockey player. It’s just incredible the different types of people that are passing away from this problem.”
