Known deaths from exposure to fentanyl rose to an alarming 60 across these islands in 2022, and the fatalities keep coming. In response, the Honolulu Police Department has joined forces with state and federal prosecutors to place special emphasis on investigating, charging and punishing fentanyl dealers.

That wasn’t enough to prevent the deaths of two Hawaii paddlers partying in a Waikiki hotel room on June 5, or the hospitalizations of three others with them — but it’s a necessary and welcome action. To avoid more deaths, law enforcement efforts must focus on keeping fentanyl out of the islands, while swiftly punishing those who bypass the law to bring it here.

It’s also a life-or-death matter to educate anyone inclined to buy street drugs about the growing risk that drugs they might consider safe — “party drugs,” such as cocaine or MDMA (ecstasy or “molly”) — can be deadly if contaminated with fentanyl.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has jumped in availability in the islands, and the overdoses it causes have also risen. “We’re going on fentanyl overdose calls pretty much every day now, at least one — sometimes more,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.

Scoring street drugs has always involved risk that they contain contaminants, exposing a user to unexpected, even deadly, consequences. The difference now is that just a tiny amount of fentanyl — 0.002 gram — can be lethal. It’s frighteningly easy to mix that much of the drug with amphetamine, cocaine or heroin.

That’s what allegedly happened in the deadly incident last month.

Responding in the early morning to a beachfront hotel room, police and emergency response crews found Oahu resident Joseph Iseke, 44, dead at the scene.

Hawaii island resident Steven Berengue, 53, a well-known paddler, died at a hospital within 24 hours. Drugs found at the scene tested positive as methamphetamine and fentanyl.

A survivor from the group described Berengue as an “old friend” — and said the group had run into him coming back to the hotel from a concert. Berengue’s friend snorted a white powder, believing it was cocaine. “Within a few minutes,” the user blacked out. At the hospital, urinalysis found amphetamines, methamphetamines, opiates and fentanyl in the user’s system.

The survivors all said they believed they were snorting “cocaine and/or molly,” investigators reported.

Had these partiers had access to fentanyl testing strips, the lethal drug could have been detected in advance, warning them off from ingesting it. On June 7, Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 671, legalizing possession of fentanyl test strips by exempting them from the state’s definition of drug paraphernalia. Rapid action must now follow to make these test strips widely available throughout the state, and to educate potential drug and medication users of their life-saving potential.

Narcan — a nasal spray that counteracts overdoses from opioids, including fentanyl — might have prevented the deaths. Every HPD patrol officer is equipped with Narcan, which can also be purchased over the counter after U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in the spring.

Free doses of Narcan are available via the Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction website — but they can’t be effective if not used in time. The Honolulu City Council is now considering Bill 28, which would require bars, nightclubs and other “high-risk venues” to keep doses of the antidote on hand.

Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI agents traced the fentanyl that killed Iseke and Berengue to suspected dealers at a Kapiolani Boulevard condo, where they found 500 grams of fentanyl, methamphetamine and $100,000 in cash.

There’s money to be made from peddling fentanyl, sadly, and it can seem easy. A laptop at the alleged dealers’ house was logged onto the “dark web,” with sites saved for ordering drugs online.

Immediate, concerted action on all fronts to block this drug and protect those at risk is required.