HONOLULU (KHON2) -- There's a lot that needs to be done to help battle the fentanyl crisis that is ramping up. Methamphetamine has long been Hawaii's most devastating illegal drug, but like what has happened on the continent, use and overdoses of fentanyl are quickly rising. Hawaii fentanyl deaths quadrupled in 4 years, experts warn of more potent version "It's getting worse, and not only that, it's changing. At the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force, we check locally boots on the ground reports as well as Department of Health CDC reports. What we see is not just an increase of overdose deaths, but an increasing amount of fentanyl causing those deaths," said Dr. Kevin Kunz, a physician on the Big Island who's been working on treating addiction for decades. According to Dr. Kunz, current studies show that 37% of the overdose deaths in Hawaii involve fentanyl either alone or with methamphetamine, so while methamphetamine is still the major overdose killer at 56% of all overdose deaths, the creeping of fentanyl is here. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You "Overdose deaths is a crude measure of health," Dr. Kunz said. "The other problem this causes the destruction of families, the social structure of our communities, the well-being of everyone, our children is also at stake. Unfortunately, statistics don't change the heart, and statistics, they're nice but they don't change anything, so we have to reach people through the heart and the way to do that is to talk to each other." Some of the ways we are combating fentanyl are treatment, policing and drug interdiction, and naloxone, but Dr. Kunz says while helpful, these methods are insufficient. He thinks that people have to come together to see the problem and find the solution. "We must activate our communities, we will never incarcerate our way out of the opioid epidemic. We will never bury our way out of it. We will never treat our way out of it. So we have to go to the level of awareness, education, and prevention. That involves community that can not trickle down from government or some agency, it has to come up from the community." Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Tonight we're getting get in-depth look at the innovative strategies being used to tackle the deadly fentanyl crisis with our special program "The Next Generation: Breaking Fentanyl's Grip" at 8 p.m. on KHON2. ...read more read less