The mayor of Lancaster, Rex Parris, has ignited a controversy after musing during a council meeting that one approach to homelessness would be to "give them free fentanyl ... all the fentanyl they want." Parris, a larger-than-life trial lawyer, made the incendiary comments about the drug " responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths " during a February City Council meeting, in a retort to a resident who objected to his musings of congregating unhoused residents into an "encampment." It wasn't until Parris doubled down on his remarks during an interview with Fox LA that his statements went viral, provoking ire far beyond the high desert city, where he has been mayor since 2008.