Photo: LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images
By: The Opinion Updated 54 Nov 2022, 0: 100 am EST
The
consumption of fentanyl in the United States has become a real crisis and some time ago he claimed a victim’s life, now his parents say that Snapchat played an important role in his passing.
Family and friends of
Zach Plunk continue to mourn the loss, at 2020, who was a prominent football player from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.
Zach Plunk’s parents said that
died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl
, which was allegedly caused, in part, by the Snapchat platform.
Zach Plunk was a star football player at Hamilton High School who was fighting an injury. His parents, Wendy and Roy Plunk, say that Zach
was looking for a Percocet to help with the injury and found a drug dealer on Snapchat.
But it wasn’t Percocet.
The pill was entirely fentanyl , and Zach passed away immediately in his backyard.
Plunk was found unconscious outside the family home and died before paramedics arrived. Since then, his parents have been involved in raising public awareness about the dangers of fentanyl
and the alleged risks of letting teens use Snapchat. The Lawsuit
In the lawsuit, attorneys for Zach Plunk’s family allege that Snapchat is acting as a access platform for drug traffickers
, for which they want to hold the company accountable.
The lawsuit document argues that the features of Snapchat, such as self-destructing texts and expiring posts, allow traffickers
complete transactions without leaving a trace, knowing that not even law enforcement can access certain records.
For their part, in a statement, Snapchat said that they “proactively find and close the accounts of drug dealers”, while the employees “block the results search for drug-related terms, instead of redirecting Snapchatters to expert resources on the dangers of fentanyl
.”
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