LOS ANGELES — In December 2018, Celia Harms sat down in her San Mateo, California, home to write a letter. Over the course of more than 900 words, she told a story that would become familiar to parents from San Diego to Texas to Indiana: Her son had gone to Mexico, visited a pharmacy, bought what he thought were legitimate pills — and died of a fentanyl overdose.
She wanted someone to do something. So she sent the letter to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then-Sen. Kamala Harris and then-Rep. Jackie Speier, calling on the three California Democrats to alert the public and sponsor legislation.
“Our beloved son, Jonathan Harms, age 29, was poisoned,” the letter said. “His story is unique in that he didn’t purchase street drugs but went to a brick and mortar pharmacy to buy pain medication for an intractable migraine.”
