countynewscenter.comIllicit Fentanyl and Overdose Prevention Public Messaging Campaign (San Diego County)
Also: San Diego County Youth Fentanyl Campaign
County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (US-CA) campaign, started in winter 2021 at the Board of Supervisors' request, that warns about illicit fentanyl and tells residents naloxone is available. The county says the first wave, with billboards, ads in six languages and social media linking to county websites, was viewed more than 10 million times; a youth-focused phase followed from late 2022, and the campaign won a NACo Achievement Award in 2025.
- Years
- 2021–now
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- DrugsHarm reductionOpioids
- Asks people to
- Never startRecognizeStart
- Strategy
- Fear appealService link
- Channel
- OutdoorSocial (paid)Website
- Audience
- General publicParentsYouthCountywide; ads in six languages (not named). Phase two (from late 2022) focused on young people, with presentations and naloxone trainings for parents and community groups.
Evidence
Self-reportedUnknown
County reports the 2021-22 fentanyl awareness campaign was 'viewed more than 10 million times' (County News Center, Dec 13, 2022). It won a 2025 NACo Achievement Award in the Health category (BHAB Director's Report, Dec 2025). No behavior or overdose outcome measured.
Sponsor (who paid)
- County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Services State local government, funder and creator
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Related campaigns
Sources
- County News Center: Supervisors approve plan to address illicit fentanyl crisis (Dec 13, 2022) sponsor · 2022
- San Diego County Behavioral Health Advisory Board, Executive Committee minutes, Dec 15, 2022 (Update on Fentanyl Campaign) sponsor · 2022
- San Diego County Behavioral Health Services, December 2025 BHAB Director's Report (NACo Achievement Awards) sponsor · 2025
Research notes
US-CA (San Diego County). Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17 (local campaigns pass; method: od2a-grantee). Opened 2026-10-22: County News Center release (Dec 13, 2022: outreach 'began in 2021, including a fentanyl awareness campaign viewed more than 10 million times, featuring billboards, advertisements in six languages, and social media connecting people to County websites'; expanded campaign adds 'a media campaign focusing on young people'); BHAB Executive Committee minutes (Dec 15, 2022: the Youth Fentanyl Campaign responds to a Board of Supervisors action requesting a media campaign on illicit fentanyl; 'The initial campaign was launched the winter of 2021'); December 2025 BHAB Director's Report (NACo Achievement Award, Health category, for the 'Illicit Fentanyl and Overdose Prevention Public Messaging campaigns', 'raising awareness about the dangers of illicit fentanyl and promoting the availability of naloxone'). Not the same campaign as the City Attorney / U.S. Attorney SDSU athlete PSAs (san-diego-sdsu-fentanyl-awareness) or the DA's San Diego Opioid Project. Not verified: vendor (none named in any opened source); funding (the county is an OD2A grantee, and a settlement tracker lists county 'Public Health Messaging campaign' settlement spending of $156,520 FY22-23 and $787,344 FY23-24, but the county's CA OSF reports on DocumentCloud returned 403, so no settlement sponsor is listed); the six languages; channels named in a 2023 BHAB deck (Facebook/Instagram/Twitch ads, school posters), whose URL no longer returns a PDF. A Board letter on a fentanyl overdose prevention grant also returned HTML, not a PDF. No individual ads found. Ad library search: 'County of San Diego', 'Live Well San Diego' with fentanyl.
Record cases/san-diego-county-illicit-fentanyl-overdose-prevention.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign