13 minute read
What Every Parent, Educator and Community Member Should Know about Fentanyl
Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Submitted
Deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl are on the rise. Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2020 were 18 times greater than the number in 2013. Boone County Coroner Justin Sparks processed a 14-yearold Boone County youth who died from an overdose last year. I spoke with Sparks about the prevalence of fentanyl in Zionsville and the surrounding communities and the rising number of fentanyl overdoses.
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Its not an uplifting conversation to have. But it is a necessary one to have, especially with our young people. Gone are the days when one could procure a dime bag of marijuana and be relatively assured that it was “clean” — and not laced with some unknown and potentially dangerous chemical agents.
In the case of the Boone County 14-year-old overdose fatality, Sparks explained that one of the two drugs found in the child’s system was cocaine, but the leading drug was fentanyl.
What Is Fentanyl?
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, approved for treating severe pain — typically advanced cancer pain. It is significantly more potent than morphine. It is prescribed in the form of transdermal patches or lozenges and can be diverted for misuse and abuse in the United States.
However, most recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdose and death in the U.S. are linked to illegally made fentanyl. It is sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect. It is often mixed with heroin and/or cocaine as a combination product — with or without the user’s knowledge — to increase its euphoric effects. It is important for the public to be aware that fentanyl is a powerful drug that can be lethal in small amounts. And with vaping on the rise among young people in the U.S, it’s equally as important to be aware of the potential dangers of illegal vapes that have been laced with this powerful opioid drug. More than 56,000 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in 2020. The latest provisional drug overdose death counts through June 2021 suggest an acceleration of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Derivatives of fentanyl: metonitazene, a benzimidazole-opioid, and para-fluorofentanyl — either alone or in combination with fentanyl — are being encountered more often in the United States and are contributing to the numbers of unintentional fatal overdoses throughout the nation.
Overcoming Vulnerability with Education
Sparks shared the latest data that clearly shows that all communities and neighborhoods are susceptible to fatal and/or nonfatal overdose occurrences. All fatal overdoses are tragic, and all are preventable.
“One of the programs that I got linked up with through the Indiana Department of Health is called Overdose Detection Mapping [OD Mapping], and it’s a collaborative effort between as many states as we can get to participate,” Sparks shared. “We input our fatal and nonfatal overdoses, and it produces heatmaps of where drug overdoses are occurring in our county. [On] a broad scale, it allows me to see where the ‘hot’ regions are, and on the micro scale, it allows me to see in which communities [overdoses] are occurring.”
Sparks added, “I’m looking at January 1, 2022, to September 21, 2022, and on my map, I see four overdoses right in the heart of Zionsville. That OD map shows both fatal and nonfatal overdoses, but it shows that overdoses are real. Substance abuse does not discriminate against economic status — affluent versus nonaffluent neighborhoods. Substance abuse is capable of touching any family at any time.”
The Boone County Coroner’s office produced stats that show that from January 1, 2022, to September 21, 2022, Sparks has seen 10 overdoses versus 12 in the same time period as last year.
“Our overdoses overall are down,” Sparks stated. “However, [in] 7 of those 10 [overdoses] this year, fentanyl was the primary agent in the cause of death, where fentanyl was 6 of the 12 from last year. Fentanyl has made a push into our community. Last year, our average age for fentanyl overdose was 44.8 years of age, and it is down to 39.5 [years of age] this year. So far this year, our youngest fatal fentanyl overdose was a 22-year-old. Fentanyl is in our youth population. They have access to it, and some are using it.”
Tools to Combat Fentanyl Overdoses
Sparks shared his optimism amid such dire and tragic statistics. There are a myriad of tools and training throughout our
county that can educate people on fentanyl — what forms it comes in, what someone who is overdosing looks and sounds like, and what can be done to reverse an overdose if discovered in time. These tools and training can and are saving the lives of people and youth in our communities.
“It’s a competition for the people that are producing these [illicit] drugs to get the ‘best’ drugs on the street,” Sparks said. “And people want the best high that they can get, so it’s a competition for people that sell this stuff to have people come back and get their drugs that have been chemically altered. You just don’t know what you’re getting. So, don’t take anything that’s not prescribed to you and that you didn’t open the seal on. Even if you think you’re getting it from a reputable source, they don’t necessarily know where it came from and what’s in it.”
Sparks solemnly added, “I guarantee you that if I was able to ask the people on my [overdose] list if they thought they were getting a fentanyl or para-fluorofentanyl, etc., they wouldn’t be able to tell me. The drugs they got were way stronger than they thought, and they died. The cases that I deal with are tragic, and the things that will stay with me forever are the responses of parents with the loss of their children.”
Naloxone — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — is a potentially lifesaving medication designed to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and life-threatening respiratory failure in minutes. Public safety and law enforcement agents commonly carry Narcan on them or in their vehicles. Sparks shared that many pharmacies in the county also have Narcan available for the public without a prescription, and he mentioned that Witham Health Services at Anson, located at 6085 Heartland Dr., Zionsville, has a Narcan vending machine by the front doors. Sparks also shared the link to an online resource: Harm Reduction Circle. It is a nonprofit that does online training on how to administer Narcan and can send it directly to your home: harmreductioncircle.org.
When asked what the county and the coroner’s office are doing to spread awareness and training, Sparks said, “From my side, we are having the difficult conversations. Boone County Health Department has offered classes for the public and is willing to do additional classes with the public where they teach the signs of an overdose, how to get Narcan and how to administer it, in addition to making the public aware of the prevalence of overdoses and how they can impact anyone.”
Sparks concluded, “What I’m optimistic about is that we are having conversations like this and that if we train people on how to use Narcan and have it readily available to the community, maybe the 70 percent of fentanyl cases that I’ve had wouldn’t exist. Having one specific area that we can focus on and using the tools that we have to fight back, we can win this [fight]. We have community leaders and mental health advocates that are fighting the good fight at the street level, who are making people aware of what’s happening and teaching them how to use Narcan. It’s simple — you open the package and literally put it into the nostril and spray. It’s done in 5 seconds. We can win at this and get people the help they need before they end up coming to my ‘office.’”
For more information opioid overdose basics and responding to an opioid overdose, visit harmreduction.org.
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Putting Aside Partisan Differences while Making a Difference in Zionsville
Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Tell the Story Photography and Staff
Look out, Zionsville! We have our very own Bob and Tom show happening on Main Street later this month! Owners of Robert Goodman Jewelers Robert (Bob) Goodman and his wife Rose-Marie, together with Boone County Commissioner Tom Santelli, are hosting an event for national “Make a Difference Day” featuring Santelli’s antique Traders Point Caring Carriage — a horse-drawn carriage — and are extending the day through the weekend of October 22–23, in front of Goodmans’ store on 106 N. Main Street in historic downtown Zionsville, Indiana.
For this reason, we are pleased to feature the Goodmans and Santelli on this month’s cover and are honored to help spread the word about “Make a Difference Weekend” and its positive message.
Bob and Rose-Marie are longtime business owners in Zionsville, and Santelli is a longtime resident. Both parties could not be from more opposite ends of the political spectrum and have been unabashedly vocal about issues that they are passionate about. So, what has brought them together, in unity, for the betterment of our community? The answer lies in the question: our community.
For the Goodmans and Santelli, Make a Difference weekend is not about the red or blue — it’s all about the red, white and blue and all of the beautiful threads that are woven into our community’s spectacular tapestry. And for this trio, coming from different places, having had different life experiences, it is about standing together with their shared passion for community, for all people, and making Zionsville a better and stronger community.
“I reached out to Bob [Goodman], and we got together for coffee,” Santelli shared. “We set some ground rules that we weren’t going to talk about politics but [about] what common goals we have and learn more about each other. Bob and
I want to focus on the community and where we have common interests. We want to focus on the unique attributes of Zionsville and not on the vitriolic exchanges back and forth.”
Santelli continued, “As a result of our coffee meeting, we learned a little more about each other and that we have many common goals and interests. So, how do we amplify that within the community? We talk about bullying in schools and then we spend our adult lives bullying each other. Bob and I want to set a better example of how we can work together for the benefit of our community. I’m sure that Rose-Marie will be the referee between the two of us at some point in time, but Bob and I continue to have good discussions and are listening to each other’s points of view. More importantly, we are trying to create something that is beautiful and enduring for Zionsville.”
There is a poem “I Shall Not Live In Vain” by Emily Dickinson that hangs on the Goodmans’ wall in their jewelry store, and Bob [Goodman] keeps a copy in his wallet. The poem reads, “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”
“That [poem] is up on our wall next to a ‘Recipe For Peace’ written by a then fifth grader who’s 36 years old now,” Bob Goodman shared. “We are going into the [Jewish] High Holidays, and part of Rosh Hashanah is closing the book on the year passed and opening the book on the new year, so it’s interesting that Tom reached out to me at this time of year. I’m not well versed in theology, but the fact that this is happening now is an interesting convergence of time.”
Goodman continued, “I think for Rose-Marie and me, community is not just about the community of Zionsville but the global community. For us, it’s about understanding that we’re dealing with the human model versus a business model, and in the instance of ‘Make a Difference Weekend,’ in terms of what we’re trying to accomplish working with Tom, it’s not the partisan model but again the human model.”
Both Santelli and the Goodmans agree that they want to collectively amplify the message that we can all have different opinions and come from different spaces but as Bob stated, “That doesn’t mean we can’t achieve things together. Rose-Marie and I do not apologize for being unabashed liberals, but we understand that in order to accomplish some things, we all have to come to the middle and can’t always stand on the fringe. I think raising money and awareness for Tri Kappa [Zionsville] is a perfect starting point. Tri Kappa is made up of members that represent all points of view, and we know that what they do is Boone County focused. Whatever we raise is going to achieve what Tom came to me asking to do, which is to amplify community and bring it together. Additionally, we are supporting a female-operated organization, and that’s also a good thing.”
Santelli concluded, “We believe in the philanthropic work that Tri Kappa does for our community in terms of raising money but also in terms of service. The organization is focused on culture and education, and those three things are things that Bob, Rose-Marie and I believe in. The proceeds raised from the carriage rides, for both days, will go to Tri Kappa Zionsville to help support their community programs and scholarships.”
JOIN US FOR MAKE A DIFFERENCE WEEKEND
The Traders Point Caring Carriage will be taking folks on a scenic route starting out in front of Robert Goodman Jewelers on Main Street and through the village on Saturday, October 22 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday, October 23, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations for parties of four can be made ahead of time by emailing Tom Santelli at: TomForIndiana@msn.com.
A sign-up station will be located outside of Robert Goodman Jewelers, and an attendant will be onsite during the posted carriage ride hours to register people for the carriage rides.
The fee is $10 [cash only please] per person, up to four people per ride. Again, the proceeds will benefit the Zionsville Zeta Sigma Chapter of Tri Kappa. The chapter specifically raises funds each year to support local nonprofits and schools through a grant-making process. Any students at the college level are welcome to apply for scholarships. To raise these funds, chapter members actively volunteer at community events, along with specific Tri Kappa annual fundraising events, such as the much beloved Santa Breakfast in December.
We invite the entire Zionsville community to come out and enjoy a carriage ride in the heart of Zionsville during the early days of autumn in support of Make a Difference Weekend and Tri Kappa, courtesy of the Goodmans and Santelli.
