This past Tuesday, November 1, our Fundamentals in Biomedical Sciences (II) class was visited by Mr. John Richardson of the Mobile County Health Department. He came to speak with us on the topic of addiction and overdose, particularly with the effects of the drug fentanyl.
Mr. Richardson is a recovered addict himself, who has decided to dedicate is life to the prevention of and education on addiction in his community. Mr. Richardson's addiction began at a young age and quickly took over his life. He describes that his disease tore apart his life and his family. Thankfully, Mr. Richardson survived and has been clean for 34 years.
Mr. Richardson works for a branch of the Mobile County Health Department that was formed with funding from Former President Donald Trump's allocation. This funding was meant to help cure the opioid epidemic our nation is facing today. This branch of the Mobile County Health Department is in charge of opioid overdose education, prevention, treatment, and surveillance. The need for this branch is ever prominent as there have been FIVE emergency responses to an overdose in the last three months in DIP alone. The department's moto is OD2A (Overdose Data To Action).
Mr. Richardson spent a good portion of his time with us discussing Fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is 100 times stronger than morphine. It can be utilized safely as a medication for extreme pain (usually used in patch) that is likely for the terminally ill. Its prescription forms are Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimize. It is dangerous, though, in its illicit forms that are mostly made in other countries. It is found in various drugs such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, MDMA, and even marijuana. It can kill you even if you don’t digest it! It is handled in hazmat suits. Those who are more susceptible to overdose are those who have not ever used fentanyl before. It is HIGHLY addictive with its withdrawals causing nausea, sweating, shaking, physical aches, etc. Those who have experienced it will say that withdrawals will not kill you, but you will wish you were dead. 1 kg of fentanyl has the ability to kill 500,000 people. 59% of opioid overdose deaths involved fentanyl (with only a previosu 14.3% in 2010) according to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) this past year. Narcan and Naloxone are the life saving drugs for overdoses.
Although is topic is incredibly heavy, I still enjoyed being educated on the subject. The opioid epidemic is incredibly dangerous, and we should all be taking steps to help "stop the spread". I am thankful for Mr. Richardson coming to share both his knowledge and his story with us!
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