Laguna Beach officials warn against erroneous fentanyl death reports

Laguna Beach officials sought to reassure the public Tuesday that there have not been a string of fentanyl-related deaths in the city over the past week.

City officials said a social media report on the Nextdoor app about the death of a student was not true. The post came out of a discussion of a recent meeting of the Laguna Beach Woman’s Club, officials said.

“This information is inaccurate, misleading and has created an exaggerated community concern,’’ officials said in a statement. “The person who posted the erroneous information has been notified directly but has not removed the post.”

Officials said two “older adult men” died from suspected fentanyl overdoses this month, but no high school student succumbed to the drug.

Authorities say some drug dealers are lacing products with the synthetic opioid in dangerous levels that are leading to poisoning deaths. In many cases, the buyers are not aware there is fentanyl in the drug they are receiving.