John Richardson discussing the topic of Fentanyl
B A C K G R O U N D
John Richardson works with the Mobile County Health Department who is now a therapist but is also in recovery. He once struggled with substance abuse and was what we would call today, a drug addict.
In his family, drinking was an allowed thing and became somewhat regular. While in highschool he began to experiment with other substances. His first "drug of choice" was fantasy, short for gamma-hydroxybutyrate.
Leaving high school, he had a full academic scholarship to Wisconsin. He was confronted by the school to discuss the fact he was abusing the schools money (scholarship) and he needed to keave if he was not attending classes. Once going back home, he continued to use more.
Once he was in the engineering program at Hungtington University, he began to recover. November the 13th will be his 34th year in recovery. Mr. Johnson now refers to addiction as a "disease", it has symptons and consequences.
P R E S E N T A T I O N
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Some street names for fentanyl are "China Town", "Apace", "Great Bear", "Dance Fever", etc. The low cost and its addictive properties are two reasons as to why it is being mixed with other drugs. The dangerous practice has led to a jump in overdose deaths from illicit drugs. Local dealers will typically sell it by kilogram. One kilogram has the ability to kill 500,000 people. Reports in 2017 state that 59% of opoid-related overdose deaths involved fentanyl as compared to 14.3% in 2010.
Xylazine is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use. It has been known now to be mixed with other drugs, particularly illicit fentanyl. From 2015 to 2020, a five year time span, the perpercentage ofl drug overdose deaths involving xylaxine increased from 2% to 26%. It can cause a decreased unresponsive level of consciousness, low blood pressure, slow heart rate,and decreased breathing. It can be identified by its white crystalline appearance. It is solid and easily blends into powdered street drugs.
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