Ep 95 | Should Every Parent Worry About Fentanyl?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

There was just a flame that was lit inside of me that said, this is not, this is not okay. I should have known. I should have known. And so I'm here to try to help other parents, not have to say, I should have.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Fentanyl overdose is something that we hear about and assume its existence is on the edges of our community. An over there problem that we scroll through on a headline. But the truth is that the Pensacola Medical District, which includes Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties, has the highest opioid overdose rate in the state. So it's all of us everywhere. My next guest knows this too well. On October 29th, 2022, her teenage son died from what he thought was cocaine, but was 100% fentanyl. Vowing that his death not be in vain, she founded Hope Above Fear, a nonprofit dedicated to help educate, destigmatize, and overcome addiction in youth. Today she's going to share what you need to know as a parent, what you can do, and why there is hope. Advocate, educator, change maker, Stephanie Shepard. I'm so happy you're here.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

That was a beautiful introduction. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Absolutely. I feel like we could probably all benefit from just a little bit of the basics, if that's okay. The basics being what is fentanyl, first of all.

unknown 1:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

So fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has originally it was being mixed in with cocaine and heroin. So, like, you know, your harder street drugs. And then it began being pressed into fake pills. So pills that appeared or looked like percocets or Xanax, Adderall. And then now it is found in everything. So the whether it's vapes or marijuana, even fentanyl has been found in any and everything that can be purchased off of the street. So it has a medical purpose. It's used in medical facilities. So fentanyl is used in a hospital for I mean, like for pain, but it is an incredibly small dose that doctors use. And it is like a science, and science form, you know, to be able to determine the proper amount that a person is able to process. Like for their weight and for the pain level. I heard it's stronger than morphine. Is that true? Yes. And stronger than morphine, stronger than heroin, strong, yes, yes, all of the above. Stronger than heroin. Yes. And so it's more potent for sure, you know. And so people that are mixing it into substances are not scientists. And so what's what's happening is that people are starting, you know, they're purchasing something, they're using it, they're unaware that fentanyl is in it. And because of the addictive properties that fentanyl has, if if the substance does not kill them, then they have developed now in a true addiction. Even if this was somebody that wasn't an addict beforehand, you know, like now they have, I mean, they've they've developed an opioid addiction. And so it is 100% an epidemic that the nation is seeing, and that here locally has become a significant problem.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Well, I was wondering why drug dealers were uh would put something into their drugs that would kill their customers, but it sounds like that's not the goal. The goal is for quicker addiction for more repeat customers. 100%. So the high is is said to be the best high of their life.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

What does it do to the body exactly? It slows down the heart rate, it slows down the breathing, it completely produces a just such a calm effect of relaxation. The unfortunate problem though is that the heart rate slows down so much that oftentimes it stops. And the only way to reverse that is with Narcan. And if you are using by yourself and there's nobody around, right? Or if you are in a home and and you've, you know, you've now um your heart has stopped and the person that is with you does not have Narcan, then the majority of the time EMS cannot arrive on scene in time without a first dose of Narcan being provided.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Wow. Is Narcan like an adrenaline to restart the heart or to boost the heart rate?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

It's the reversal effect. And so the problem is, though, is that depending on the the amount of fentanyl that is in that that somebody has consumed, one dose of narcan isn't enough. And so they're finding that within 15 minutes, a second dose will need to be provided. And even in some cases, then a third or fourth dose. And so boxes that you can receive from the health department or from Health and Hope Clinic. I mean, of course, they do sell them also at the pharmacies, but you can get them, you know, there are places where you can get them for free. They contain two doses, and the two doses are in the box for a reason because nine out of ten times they are used.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Wow. Okay, so it's it's kind of a sedative effect and not necessarily like I'm gonna compare it to cocaine, where cocaine, you know, you see people on TV, I guess, on movies, and they they use cocaine, and they're suddenly they're like got energy and ideas and they're they're gonna go out and do stuff. I'm thinking about a parent who might want to try to recognize whether their kid is using fentanyl. It doesn't sound like it would be super obvious because teenagers sometimes are just tired or lazy or, you know, hanging out anyway. So would a parent be able to recognize signs or symptoms that their child is using fentanyl?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I mean, an excessive amount of sleeping or, you know, staying in the room for too long, not coming home when they're supposed to. I mean, the I I don't know whether there's specific signs that you you can see with fentanyl in in our youth, other than, I mean, what we're seeing is death.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

And so because they're not they they don't know that they're taking it.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

And so these kids are not seeking it out. It's not something desirable to them. It's a little bit Russian roulette.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Well, I mean, there is a percentage that for sure they are they've started taking, you know, a a fake perk and they liked it and they knew that it wasn't real, and you know, and so they continue to make a choice because they liked the feeling. So yes, for sure there is a percentage. I would say though that the percentage is higher for those that are unaware versus those that are making the choice.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

And you mentioned earlier that it's almost in everything. Is it in regular vape pens?

SPEAKER_00 7:27

It has been found in regular vape pens, yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

And that is according to EMS. That's so scary. So you have a mission to overcome the attitude of not my kid. What's the significance of that?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Well, so I did not know about fentanyl until my son died. I had not heard of it. And you had never even heard the word fentanyl. I had not, no. I mean, like I've I've tried thinking, you know, like perhaps maybe there was a celebrity that died of fentanyl. You know what I mean? Like that's that would have been the closest relation I would have had to the drug. And and so I remember that waiting for EMS to get there and listening to two police officers talk about the particular position that my son was laying in. And I heard them say that it was the fentanyl pose. And so I, not knowing what they were talking about, immediately Googled that and trying to figure out what happened, you know, what what what happened. And I saw the pose. And so that was the first time I had heard of fentanyl. And there's a particular way that the body dies, the with how quickly the heart rate drops and and their body just tenses up and you know, it's just it's horrible. And and so that was the first time I heard of it. And I just there was just a flame that was lit inside of me that said, This is not, this is not okay. I should have known. I should have known. And so I'm here to try to help other parents, not have to say, I should have, dot dot dot, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

I think there's the temptation for parents who do hear about it now, because the word is getting out, right? To say, yeah, but if it's if it was my kid, I would know. Right. Right. They kind of self-exclone their fan their household from from being vulnerable to fentanyl. And and your organization, it feels like, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, it feels like that's the big puzzle piece of your mission, the corner piece of the puzzle is to educate parents that it could be anybody's kid.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

I was actually just talking with EMS yesterday, and one of the messages that they are always saying is this is happening in Brownsville, this is happening in East Hill, this is happening in North Hill, this is happening in Gulf Breeze and in Cantonment and in Pace and in Milton and and it's happening in your neighborhood. You know, whether it's your kid or the neighbor's kid or the kid down the road, they are all exposed. Our youth are exposed. If they are going to school, they are exposed. That's just I mean, that's just the truth of it. And that that that hasn't really changed. I mean, I remember when I was in middle school, that uh it was the same way for me. And I went to school in this district, you know. And so it's just it I mean, and if we're all honest, I mean, like that's I mean, it we were exposed at school too, you know, like whether we heard about it or saw it or smelt it in the bathroom, you know, like it it it that that aspect hasn't changed. But the drugs that are being used have um the availability of these substances, that has changed. The how easy it is for kids to find somebody on Snapchat that will just roll up to the house and drop something off, and then they can just pay them, you know, you know, pay them online. And there's zero traces of these interactions, you know? And and I'm not, I'm not sitting here saying that, you know, that our kids don't have snap. I'm not, I'm not jumping on that bandwagon, you know. I'm just saying that be aware, like that it is easily accessible, period. There are just these, you know, there's there's an emoji chart that the DEA um has put out. Look into that. There's an emoji chart. And those emojis represent the drug language of Snapchat.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Wait, okay, hold on. We have to unpack that because that is completely foreign to me and maybe to some parents listening to this too. Can you give some examples? Well, I mean, so they should Google emoji chart, but I mean, Google the emoji chart.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

I mean, like what I do is I I I ask like the youth that that volunteer and that, you know, that I I run all of my ideas and anything that I hear by, and I'm just like, hey, okay, is this true? They will say, Yes, it is. Yes, ma'am. You know, and so somebody's profile, you know, picture may have or may have a specific emoji next to it. And it changes and it changes it based off of what substance somebody might be looking for, or like underneath the profile, there may be like a few little, you know, particular emojis and and they represent something. And like I said, if you just search up DEA drug emojis, you know, like there will be a little chart that will come up. And from my understanding, it's updated, you know, whenever there are changes. But, you know, so it's it's worth looking into for sure. And asking your kids, hey, have you ever seen this? Is there anybody on your Snapchat that has this? You know, like that's a conversation to have, you know? Or just saying, hey, hey, I I heard maybe don't even let them know what you're asking and just say, hey, what's this emoji mean? And just see what their response is. That's so interesting.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Because I I feel like oh, there's so much to unpack here. One of the things that I think parents believe about their children is that, oh, if there was a problem, they would tell me. And I'm not sure that that's true. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

I mean, I don't want to say that, you know, our kids don't talk to us, but I don't know whether they, for the majority, will just pop off and say, hey, I have a problem, or hey, I've done this and I'm worried, or hey, my friend is struggling here and they need help. Like those, though, that those conversations I don't think happen as often as they should. I don't, I do not want to speak for every family, but I know that that was a big conversation that I had with a lot of my son's friends of just saying, hey, so from here on out, it is vital, vital that if you see a friend that you know is struggling, you know, have the conversation, you know, have the conversation with them, have the conversation with, you know, an adult that that can provide help. You know, because I was not aware that he was struggling. I mean, I was no, let me rephrase those words. I was aware that he was struggling. I was not aware of what he was struggling with. And so to think that your kid is a pothead and can't stop smoking pot is one thing. But then to find out that your kid is a coke head and, you know, is is something totally different, right? And so I don't believe that I would have been able to do anything different with that level of knowledge because I did every single possible thing. I utilized every single resource that I could. And I, at the end of the day, due to the lack of resources, although our county is working on improving that, there is a recognition across the board that a huge gap in services is for our youth that are struggling with substance abuse. And so it is being discussed. Steps are being, you know, are being taken to remedy that, to be able to offer more resources. However, in 2021 and 2020, 2022, there was nothing, right? And so, you know, whenever I would ask X, Y, Z, you know, whoever the person was, I need help. What can you do? Who can you refer me to? It was just so limited. So limited. And so I had to wait until he was 18, you know, and having to wait until somebody is a certain age to receive help is too long. You know, if we can jump on this at the very beginning, if we can provide service, if we can provide the awareness and the preventative efforts to our youth before they even touch a substance. I mean, that's critical. It's just like, you know, you know, years of research said that, you know, how early childhood was so vital to the education, you know, of our children. Well, early drug awareness and prevention is vital to our teens and their, you know, and their future.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Um Yeah, because the the community support aspect is seems like such a powerful underutilized feature of a teenager's life, right? Because as you said, you knew that your son was struggling, but you didn't know how he was struggling. And you've pointed out to me off mic that it's not always even obvious that there is a struggle because it's not just, you know, kids that are outwardly struggling, whether that be academically, emotionally, socially, but you've told me that it's also, you know, the track star and the football player and the varsity so-and-so, who just experiment with something and then, you know, the it's laced with fentanyl and then they go down that path. Having peers that are educated to help each other is really such a a groundroots way to empower kids instead of just like policing them. And I think that's what's unique about your approach.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

My son was a straight A student. You know, he he I mean, he he truly was. And he was, he was, he was respectful, he was loved by all until, right? Until. And then and then things started kind of going downhill, and it was slowly, and then it was quickly, and then it was uh backtrack, and then it was you know, but nobody would have looked at him when he was in sixth or seventh or eighth or even ninth grade and thought he's gonna die from drugs. That would have never nobody would have ever said that ever. And like the same group of kids, the same class or a year before I know of at least four that have gone to rehab. Really? My son graduated in 2022. So in that 2021-2022 class, and that's those are the kids I know of, right? That have gone to rehab. And one of them, yeah, was a track star, you know, one of them was a, you know, w was was a star in the soccer team. You know, like it can be anyone. You can't look at somebody and say, well, that's a drug addict, or that kid's got it together. We all have a story. We've all been through something in life, and our youth without proper resources are going to find a way to comfort themselves. They're going to find a way to to relieve whatever worry or fear or sadness they have. I mean, you just think about it. I mean, how many of you go home after work and have a glass of, you know, a glass of wine or a beer? That's your sense of comfort. Well, they can't do that. They're not 21. So, you know, they're going to find something unless we give them tools, unless we give them outlets, unless we work diligently together to, as parents, as educators, as members of the community, to provide our youth with knowledge on how they can feel all of the emotions that you know that come with living life. And then on top of that, the struggles that teen it is horrible to be a teenager. You know, like it just really is. It's like that, I mean, just think that was the it's sometimes the best time of your life. And at the same time, it can be so traumatic, you know? And then I mean, I don't know what it's like. I would uh whenever to have social media. I mean, like you add that on them in in the mix and just, you know, like having to stay up to date with everything that's going on, or if you don't respond to this person now, this person's mad, or you know what I mean? Like, oh my gosh, I've loved them, you know, left them on read for five minutes. Like, like just that constant fear of, you know, of something, of the judgment, or of I mean, all of that added to all of the normal, natural stress that we grew up with. And, you know, we don't know what that's like. Um, but they are willing to speak up, they are willing to talk. They at the end of the day, teens just want to be, they want to be heard, they want to be felt, they want to be seen. And that is something that we as Hope of Fe are trying to do is to hear them. You know, what is the problem? Why is it a problem? How can we collectively help you? How, what, what, what did we as a community not provide when you needed it? So asking those simple questions, it's this like pause moment of, oh wow, you see me. You hear me, you feel me, you know?

SPEAKER_01 20:32

And it's and you're developing these resources based on it sounds like the answers you're getting. Right, exactly. 100%. That leads me to my next question because it seems like your program is different. And I want to give you a chance to kind of explain because maybe people don't know, but the DARE program in the 90s unfortunately increased drug use among kids. How are you ensuring that this program is gonna have a better outcome?

SPEAKER_00 20:58

So, so the DARE program was definitely fear-based and was, you know, presented and ran by a group of adults telling teens no. You know, the logo was just say no in O. And I mean, I know even me, I can be a little rebellious. I don't like being told what to do. And and so, you know, like now you put that into, you know, like to our preteens and our teens, and you know, it's like, who are you? You know, you're a nobody and you're telling me blah, blah, blah. You know, and sure, there was the scrambled egg commercials of the brain, you know what I mean? Like all of those things. Yeah. And so, like, did that impact some people? Absolutely. You know, sure. Did that have a, you know, like I'm sure that that made some people afraid. I've talked to people who have said, I never touched anything because of the scrambled egg commercial, you know. But the, like you said, it did increase drug use. And so for the mass majority, what we have to provide is awareness. We have to let it's it's knowledge, you know, we have to let Let them know. And so instead of just say no no, we say just no K N O W. It's knowledge, it's awareness. And with that, we are then giving them the opportunity to use this new knowledge to make a choice. You know, and I don't know, I just I think that when we provide somebody with the opportunity to make a choice and with full knowledge, right? The majority of the time we're gonna make the right choice. We're going to stop and we're gonna think about it.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

And that's what we want. We want kids who think about their consequences and connect their actions with what is gonna happen after the action. Exactly. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

And so it's oh, sorry, good. I mean, that's part of the critical thinking, right? And so it's creating critical thinkers. And ultimately that's what we want. That's what we want our kids, is to be critical thinkers.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Exactly. Yeah. You don't want robots in the community. Can you tell me about the the features of your program? If there's a parent listening, what could they expect by participating in your program? How does participation work? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 23:22

So I really think that that is that's something that we've been talking about. And how do we explain that? Because it's truly case by case. Like, you know, like if somebody reaches out, and when I say somebody reaches out, teens oftentimes young adults, somewhere between the age of 16 to 19, usually will reach out on Instagram. That's definitely our platform where we reach the most youth and where we find that youth are sharing our stories, or spoke is definitely more for the parents. And so those are the two are two platforms where where we've reached the community. And so when I get a message, it is usually, hey, thank you. This is my story, or this is what my boyfriend is struggling with, or, you know, how can I get involved? And sometimes this person is asking you to get involved because they are currently struggling. And maybe they didn't weren't honest about that. And then they show up and to volunteer, and it's pretty, you know, like it's it's just, I can feel it, I can see it. But the point is though that they have seen that again, somebody is speaking the truth and is saying, hey, there's a problem. And just that level of honesty is invite is seems to be inviting. And so they show up and, you know, and and it's maybe it's just a matter of we meet for the first time, or they help set up a table, or, you know, it's it's all in it ends up being this person's comfortable, you know, what they're most comfortable with. Other times it's it has been them coming and be getting involved in just various volunteer activities that we have. And then also we have our 2024 initiative has been um a choose your story, where we do a teen gathering once a month. And our goal is for that to be more frequent. Right now, we have the ability to do it once a month. And those those gatherings are the purpose of that is after my son originally, uh so after he passed, I I met with about eight to ten different different teens and I asked them, What do you need? What did you need whenever you first got high, right? What could have helped prevent y'all from just sitting around and, you know, and not being productive in life, you know, like you know, whatever. And so their answer collectively was there was nothing to do. What what were we supposed to do? Like, you know, like give us something to do. And so that is what inspired the choose your story gatherings is giving teens something to do, whether it's something that they've never done, whether it's something that they have done, but maybe it costs too much money. And so, so both of those aspects. So something that is fun and engaging. So we've done um a hockey night, which was really awesome. There were about 15 that came, and only one of them had ever been to a hockey game before. And so that was pretty sweet. We did a candle making night, which was cool because you know, none of us had ever made candles before. And so just being able to experience the process of making a candle and selecting like your own scent. And then we did a bowling night. And in April, we are doing our gathering at a local farm, like it's a it's a ranch, and there's horses and there's ponies, and there's like little puppies, and it's just a really beautiful space, and there's an opportunity to play games. And we did have to not have to, well, we've chosen to change that from a general public gathering to host a memorial for a one of the a friend from that same graduating class that are your son's graduating class. Yes, that died in a car accident recently. And so because so many of those the friends are followers of Hope of Buffier, I just felt that it was important for us to give them an opportunity to come together and unite and have a safe place to just remember her. And, you know, and so that's that's what we've turned our choosher story into for the month of April.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

It sounds like a youth group where drug use and the temptation for drug use doesn't have to be secret.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

Right. That's well, I've not thought of it like that. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Where it can be talked about. I do know that we have several that continue to show up to our community outreach events that have openly struggled, that have that are living today because of Narcan, that have turned their life around. You know, we have several kids that that have never put a substance in their body, but but their mother has died from drugs or their father drank themselves to death. So, you know, it's we're not just reaching kids that are getting high or have gotten high, but it's also the kids that have been impacted by by drugs, you know? And so again, it's just saying we know that there's a problem, we hear you, we see you, you're not alone.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

How would you suggest parents start the conversation with their kids? You mentioned earlier asking about you had a question earlier and it just left me right now. But how would you suggest parents start that conversation with their kids about fentanyl?

SPEAKER_00 29:08

So I would say the very first thing you should ask is, have you heard of fentanyl?

unknown 29:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

I mean, you know, simple enough. It's simple, right? And if they say yes, then ask them what they know, you know? If they say no, then it's time to talk. Even if they say yes and they tell you what they know, there are so many YouTube videos. Honestly, we've got some good resources on our website as well. If you um just on the homepage, there's a video at the very bottom that I think is so impactful. And I think it's like three minutes long, right? Take a look at that. And it's, you know, it's but we we do have several different videos or you know, just a variety of resources on our resource page as well. But having the conversation just in regards to what is fit and all, have you heard of it? Do you know anybody that has taken it? Also, although you may not want to hear the truth or the answer, asking open-ended questions like, have you blink, blink, blink, you know, like have you ever gotten high? Have you ever used fill in the gap, right? You know? So asking those very specific questions can be uncomfortable. And especially if you might think the answer's yes, but you might not want to know, it is so much better to know now than later, right? Yeah. And so just talk to your kids. Don't assume that, oh, they're being cranky because they had a bad day, or because they lost a game, or because they made a C and a math test. Like, don't automatically assume that you know what's happening and I like the question.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

When was the last time you tried weed? When was the last time you vaped? When was the last time you saw someone vape? It's harder to lie in that answer. Yeah, right. Because if you say, have you ever, I, you know, the the part of me that is holding on to my teenage mind is like, oh, I would just say no automatically. That's that's the right answer, you know?

SPEAKER_00 31:24

Oh, I I like that too, actually. That is great. Because, you know, you can easily see the a shock value on someone's face. And if you know your kid, right, if you like really feel like you know their facial expression, yeah, you can pick up on something. If you Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

But I love that you're trying to destigmatize if the answer is yes, I have, or the answer is yesterday, because it doesn't mean, you know, that you're a bad parent or you're failing, or you know, it's doomsday. And not only that, but you're providing this really beautiful, growing, new but growing community of kids and parents who want better outcomes for the kids. Because it's not like, you know, whatever, the 80s when everyone was experimenting and what's the big deal. We're talking about really serious consequences here, but ones that can be avoided thanks to your organization. So as we wrap, can you tell people what your website is, your socials, and if you have a newsletter, like how they can get on that, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Absolutely. And there's so much more that I would love to say. So that happened really fast. Okay. So our website is hopeabovefear.org. We are on Facebook and Instagram at hopeabove fear. And if you, yeah, we do have a monthly newsletter. And so if if somebody emails us through our website, just a contact that they wanted to join the newsletter, then we we send that out. We don't do a lot of spam emails or anything like that. Just an update of anything that's coming up and the things that we've done the previous month. We usually include new statistics that may have come out in there as well, which I am going to throw out one that I just learned yesterday. So just speaking of teens right now, there is a rise, specifically among teen females ages 10 to 19 with drug overdoses. So, mamas of girls, right? Mamas of all, but there is a rise. Please talk to your kids. It is the most important thing that you can do right now as a parent. Talk to your kids.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Well, you really encouraged listeners to do just that. So thank you so much for this. Thank you for all the work that you're doing. And I can't wait to a year from now, two years from now, from now, have more wins that we can bring to the table and talk about the victories that have happened because of the community that you're creating. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.