Well, good morning, everyone.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend.

We're gonna get started.

And it was a tough loss for Mexico last night for those of us that stayed up and watched that game.

Man, incredible game.

Miss Prime.

Good morning, Mayor, and good morning, everyone.

This is a work session of the El Paso City Council for Monday, July 6, 2026.

It is 9.04 a.m.

Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Foyatreco, Representative Nino, alternate Mayor Pro Tem, Pierro, and Representative Limore.

Representative George and Canales will be joining the meeting later this morning.

Mayor, we have a quorum.

Thank you very much.

Represent uh Trey, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Pledge of allegiance to lie in the United States of America.

And to the republic for which is one nation and the liberty and justice.

Okay.

Kim is crying.

Yes, that brings us to item number one, and this is a public safety coalition presentation on opioid use disorder in the borderland.

Good morning, Doctor.

Good morning, Mayor Council.

Great to be here.

I know it's a sore spot with the loss of the soccer game.

Yes.

It's a one that is still bleeding.

See, still muy tristes, but when we're gonna talk about a problem that is not only affecting our community, but affecting the state and the whole country.

The substance use disorder is something that is part of the behavioral health.

And we've made a presentation in 2023 to council in regards to the community health assessment.

Behavioral health was one of those areas that it was identified from the community as something that we need to pay attention, and this is a great example of how public health police department and fire department are coming together to address a problem that is not only affecting one department but affects the whole community because of the effects that it has on some individuals.

Substance use disorder is a condition that is well recognized within the DSM 5, which is a diagnostic statistical method uh revision five, in which we diagnose mental health conditions.

Substance use disorder is the overuse of specific substance without regards to negative consequences.

And this substance use disorder can be divided depending on the substance, can be substances that are legal, can be substances that are illegal, and legal substances such as the nicotine, such as alcohol, such as THC in other states, but this will include opioids, will include hallucinogens, these will include sedatives, and we're gonna be seeing how the opium, and specifically the opioid use disorder, has been affected our country, our community, and also the state.

It is considered a public health problem because of the epidemic proportion that it has taken.

Opio use disorder, it is a very complex public health problem, not only for the physicians or the health care providers that treat this kind of conditions, but for the whole community and the city and county that address these issues.

Let me try to.

So substance use disorder the greatest consequence or complication that it can have is death.

People that use these substances might use some substances without knowing that they're using something that has been laced with a more potent substance, such as the fentanyl or illegally manufactured fentanyl, or they use a combination of different substances that later on is gonna carry out the death.

And these complications are not just affecting a specific gender.

We see that it can affect anybody, males, females, and unfortunately it's affecting in greater proportion males over females, but still it is a complication that we see, and these individuals mainly rely on EMS to come and save them, basically, because they know that they need help, and unfortunately, many of them they cannot stop.

These substances affect the biochemistry of the brain, and because of the reward system that it has, because of the high potential for addiction, these people cannot stop using the substances, and many times they need to be using more and more substances.

And unfortunately, when they're using the substances, and specifically the opioids, that can carry a consequence that they're gonna be stopping breathing.

They're gonna be after the euphoria, they're gonna be stopping breeding, and that's when they need to have the life-saving medication, which we're gonna be talking a little bit about.

Brand name is Narcan.

Um that is the life-saving medication that is gonna be helping them come out of that overdose.

But many of these people rely on EMS, they call 911.

They do these substances with other individuals that are gonna be saving their lives by calling 911.

But we need to do more.

And the help that they're gonna be seeking, sometimes they're gonna be falling back into using substances and not only are gonna be continuing with the treatment, sometimes they have other issues that are impeding these people to receive the treatment that they need.

The kind of drugs that they've been using has been changing over time.

As you can see from the late 1990s all the way to 2023 when we have the data, the from 2015 up to now, there was a very sharp increase on opioid deaths because of the illegally manufacture fentanyl, and that is a problem that they saw from the border from every single city in the country where people were dying.

And initially we didn't know why, but as our technology and our ways to diagnose these individuals with a specific substance, specifically the Office of the Medical Examiner.

Now we're seeing that illegally manufactured fentanyl were responsible for all these deaths that we can see that it's highlighted in the gray line that just separated from the rest of the drugs.

We see that acute stimulants such as the methamphetamine has uh make a great comeback.

Also, some other stimulants such as the cocaine, also is one of those that is causing the overdoses.

And depending on the drug, some communities might see some drugs being affecting the streets more than others, and talking to some other individuals within public health and within the behavioral health, that's what they see depending on where they're living.

It is demand and supply also, and what the people are able to afford that can determine what is happening in their community.

In Texas, drug poisoning rates have increased over 75% for the last five years, and going from 9.4 to 15.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, just four or five years, the death rate continues to increase, and that is very concerning to all of us, not just in public health, but in many other.

That is the reason why the public safety coalition is able to address some of these issues at the local level.

But definitely it's something that we can set the example for many other communities in how we're gonna be addressing this complex problem.

The drug related deaths here in El Paso, according to the Office of the Medical Examiner, we saw a very sharp peak for the last five years, six years, but now it declined, especially in the opioid use disorder.