Son's Death Inspires Woman's Fight To Stop Opioid Abuse

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A mother who lost her son is joining forces with a local church to warn people about the dangers of opioid abuse.

Natasha Butler has gotten familiar with fentanyl, a drug she's recently learned about, after her 28-year-old son, Jermone, ingested an opioid and fell into a coma in March.

"All of his organs shut down and it was stated that is was due to the overdose of fentanyl," she said.

She blames his death on a friend she says gave her son the drug. Now she's warning others about how deadly it can be with Dr. William Dubose.

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, more than 165,000 people died from prescription opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2014.

California will soon have a new program designed to cut down on the abuse. New regulations will require pharmacists to keep a record on patients who get a prescription, who prescribed it, how many pills and what pharmacy filled it. The measure is designed to cut down on patients who doctor shop as well as doctors who write too many prescriptions.