Fentanyl is More Lethal Than The Vietnam War

So where are the outraged students and protesters?

Sep 15, 2024

September is National Recovery Month, so I was delighted to land this week’s podcast guest, Tim Czaja, the director of the Berkeley Day Report Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. (Day Centers provide evidence-based treatment to addicts, as well as drug screenings. This is more effective — and MUCH cheaper for taxpayers — than jailing addicts.)

As you can imagine, a program like this is sorely needed; West Virginia was ground zero in the opioid crisis, and Berkeley County was designated a “high intensity drug trafficking area” by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2014.

Czaja’s passion for recovery comes from deep personal experience: During our conversation, he recounted how he went from being a heroin addict, himself, to helping other addicts recover.

It took Czaja many years (and numerous attempts) to get clean. A year-long, faith-based, substance abuse treatment program, finally did the trick, and began the years-long process that led him to his current position.

His story is heart-breaking, but also, inspiring.

Among the many takeaways, Czaja explains why Narcan is so important:

“As long as there's a heartbeat, there is still hope,” Czaja tells me. “I’m a testimony to it. Recovery is possible. There is life on the other side of addiction.”

In addition to his work at the Day Center, Czaga also helps run a non-profit called Friends of Recovery, designed to financially assist people in programs who “trying to get their lives back in order.”

Please watch our listen to our FULL conversation.

NEWS ROUNDUP …

The Guardian: “Young people aren’t exactly seeking out the drug; rather, they’re buying what they think are pills such as Adderall, Xanax or Percocet from friends or ordering them on social media sites like Snapchat and Instagram.”
WASHINGTON: Under new law, Washington colleges will provide fentanyl test strips, Narcan for students
WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia’s drug crisis extends to the unborn
OREGON: Toddler dies of suspected fentanyl overdose in Portland
CALIFORNIA: Narcan use in jails rises
ARIZONA: Narcan available inside AED cabinets around University of Arizona main campus
The Associated Press: How social media became a storefront for deadly fake pills
ALABAMA: Sheriff sued over ‘cover up’ after inmate dies of fentanyl
OKLAHOMA: Narcan to be distributed at Oklahoma high school football games
TEXAS: “Now 11 years sober, [Dallas musician Anthony] Delabano insists that providing free Narcan gives opioid users — even those not addicted — a chance to survive that mistake. He dismisses any criticism that making Narcan available encourages drug use.”
CALIFORNIA: “When asked if she agreed with law enforcement’s decision to pursue homicide charges in connection with her daughter’s overdose, [Susan] Molina said she did. ‘Yes, because it’s murder.’”
CAPITOL HILL: “Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman introduced the Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act, which will require pill presses to be engraved with a serial number to help law enforcement combat counterfeit and fentanyl-laced pills, while also targeting cartels. This legislation is both bipartisan and bicameral, with Rep. Stansbury (NM-01), Fry (SC-07), Crenshaw (TX-02), and Harder (CA-09) co-leading in the House of Representatives and Senators Cornyn (R-TX), Coons (D-DE), Moran (R-KS), Klobuchar (D-MN), and Cantwell (D-WA) introducing the Senate version.”

TOUCHDOWN!

Congratulations are in order for Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins, who scored a big touchdown in yesterday’s game.

Jordan recently teamed up with the non-profit Harbor Path (for whom I am an advisor) to produce this amazing public service announcement (PSA):

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

A recent article in The Times of India includes some powerful graphics that I wanted to share with you about the impact of fentanyl poisoning.

In the graphic below, you can see the rise of opioid deaths since fentanyl came on the scene:

Although it is true that the number of poisonings declined slightly in 2023 (perhaps thanks to the availability of Narcan), the number is still staggeringly high.

If you go back even further than the fentanyl era, you can get an even deeper sense of how much more lethal fentanyl is when compared to drugs like heroin or cocaine.

Every single year now, we are losing more Americans than we lost during the entire Vietnam war.

Where are the outraged students and protesters?

ATTORNEYS GENERAL ROUNDUP

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch brings “One Pill Can Kill” campaign to University of Southern Mississippi:
As part of the initiative, the Attorney General’s Office will distribute Fentanyl Harm Prevention Kits - which include two Fentanyl test trips, a safe drug disposal bag, and a pill identification card that identifies whether the drug is legitimate - to colleges and universities, law enforcement centers, community mental health centers, and other community groups. In addition, General Fitch unveiled the AGO Fentanyl Strike Force, a concerted effort to train and organize law enforcement officers and prosecutors across the state to safely and effectively investigate and prosecute fentanyl cases.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman unveiled plans Tuesday to create a statewide drug prevention program:
Coleman presented the plan’s details to a state commission, which unanimously approved his request for a $3.6 million investment over two years to implement it. … “We live at a time when as little as one fentanyl pill can, and is, killing our neighbors,” Coleman added. ”We live at a time where no margin of error exists, where there is no such thing as safe experimentation with drugs.”
He said the campaign, called “Better Without It,” will spread its message to young people through social media and streaming platforms, on college campuses and through partnerships with influencers. The initiative also will promote school-based programs.
3. Attorney General Tim Griffin joins bipartisan call on Congress to require Surgeon General warning for Social Media platforms:
“Social media platforms have become part of everyday life for most Americans, but it’s no secret that their algorithms are inherently addictive and can have devastating impacts on young people. That’s why I joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in support of the U.S. Surgeon General’s recent call for Congress to require that a warning be placed on all algorithm-driven social media platforms.
“The responsibility for protecting children begins and ends with parents, but we can all do more. As the father of two teenagers myself, my interest in this issue goes beyond policy. It’s personal. We must protect our kids from the dangers that exist online, including algorithms that entice them to consume unhealthy amounts of content that degrades their mental health.

Note: My goal is to include a wide array of bipartisan voices on this topic. So if you have any news regarding state Attorneys General, please send them our way at thepoisoningpod@gmail.com !

LASTLY …

If Instagram is your social media platform of choice, we have just launched a new Instagram channel so that I can post clips of interviews without driving my friends and family (who follow my personal feed) crazy.

It’s brand new, so please subscribe today!

Also, we’re gaining new readers each week, so I wanted to remind you to check out past episodes of the podcast, including my conversations with:

Journalist Ben Westhoff, the author of 'Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic.'
Tony Mattivi, Director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), shares his insights and experience.
Rolling Stone senior writer Paul Solotaroff who authored a piece called “Inside Snapchat's Teen Opioid Crisis.”

You can watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple.

And lastly, thank you for reading this newsletter. Please tell a friend. Together, we can stop the poisoning!