00:00:02
[Music]
00:00:07
I just had no fear of like dying you
00:00:11
know I didn't think that was part of
00:00:12
like what drugs could do to somebody but
00:00:15
it had fentanyl in it I instantly just
00:00:18
um I died
00:00:20
flatlined like on the floor in front of
00:00:23
my mom and front of my little
00:00:25
sister and
00:00:28
um all I know that happened after after
00:00:30
that was what they told me but I was
00:00:33
like not breathing for 20
00:00:35
minutes and they tried CPR and Naran and
00:00:40
everything you know one of the
00:00:41
paramedics ended up breaking my ribs to
00:00:43
get me to start breathing again I just
00:00:46
woke up 3 days later in the hospital and
00:00:49
I had no idea what happened I mean just
00:00:52
by the grace of
00:00:55
God a local teenager dead from a
00:00:58
suspected fentel overdose he lost two
00:01:00
students to overdoses just in the past
00:01:02
two months 17-year-old daughter is the
00:01:04
latest local high school student to die
00:01:06
of an accidental after taking pills
00:01:08
laced with sons died from fentanyl
00:01:11
poisoning in just one day there were
00:01:12
more than a dozen drug overdoses and six
00:01:15
can be up to 50 times stronger than
00:01:18
heroin drug deaths among children more
00:01:20
than tripled from 2019 to
00:01:23
[Music]
00:01:28
2020
00:01:31
this is truly an unprecedented time
00:01:34
we're at a point right now in the United
00:01:35
States where each week the equivalent to
00:01:39
a classroom of high school students dies
00:01:41
of Overdose across the country people
00:01:44
might be surprised to know that youth
00:01:46
substance use has actually been on a
00:01:48
downward trend for 20 years high
00:01:52
schoolers use of illicit substances
00:01:55
excluding marijuana and alcohol is
00:01:58
actually well below
00:02:00
10% but their deaths have skyrocketed in
00:02:03
particular in the last couple of years
00:02:05
and that's because of fentanyl found in
00:02:08
fake pills and other substances since
00:02:10
about the
00:02:12
mid2 we started to see this very potent
00:02:16
synthetic opioid called fentanyl emerg
00:02:19
on the drug landscape first in the
00:02:21
heroin Supply and then it started being
00:02:23
used by drug traffickers to produce
00:02:25
counterfeit prescription pills these are
00:02:28
completely fake pills a lot of young
00:02:31
adults in America are getting these
00:02:33
pills on social media Snapchat WhatsApp
00:02:36
Discord even Facebook Messenger could
00:02:39
also be just from friends or as they
00:02:41
call them plugs their local drug dealer
00:02:44
that they happen to know our kids think
00:02:46
that they're real and they think that
00:02:47
they're safe and it's a deadly mistake
00:02:49
fentol is an opioid that's at least 50
00:02:51
to 100 times more potent than heroin
00:02:54
because it's such a potent opioid
00:02:55
fentanyl can kill within minutes
00:02:58
particularly for teenagers who may have
00:03:00
never been exposed to an opioid before
00:03:02
and have no tolerance built up and it's
00:03:04
especially risky when it gets mixed with
00:03:06
other substances with elicit fentanyl
00:03:09
you don't know how much you're using and
00:03:11
frequently it is combined with another
00:03:13
drug whether it's contaminating heroin
00:03:15
or contaminating cocaine it's mixed drug
00:03:18
use which is extremely dangerous and
00:03:20
difficult to treat in the ER I mean you
00:03:22
don't you don't even know what is in the
00:03:25
drugs that you're about to consume I
00:03:27
mean it could be your last time using
00:03:30
even if it's your first time using it
00:03:32
could be your last you know that's the
00:03:34
the scary reality
00:03:36
[Music]
00:03:43
now well Mary and I got into this world
00:03:47
after losing our son Charlie in
00:03:51
2020 um Charlie was a 22- year-old
00:03:54
college senior when um he went online
00:03:58
and got what he was told was a Percocet
00:04:00
he was familiar with Percocet from a
00:04:02
back surgery he'd had about a year and a
00:04:04
half prior to his death so he knew what
00:04:08
peret would do to him and he had a job
00:04:11
interview and had just driven back to
00:04:13
college
00:04:14
after you know unwillingly living with
00:04:16
his parents for a couple of months as a
00:04:18
college senior um and when he got back
00:04:21
up to campus his back was hurting he had
00:04:24
a job interview on the phone so he went
00:04:25
out and got a pill offs script that he
00:04:28
was told was a legitimate medication and
00:04:32
um he died from it and he died on a
00:04:34
random Thursday afternoon um it shocked
00:04:37
Mary and I because we we knew that
00:04:40
Charlie did not have a substance use
00:04:43
problem he didn't have any diagnosed
00:04:45
mental health issues he had all the
00:04:47
normal stresses of a young person
00:04:49
getting ready to launch his life and it
00:04:51
was a crazy time because of covid um but
00:04:54
Charlie is a prime example of this new
00:04:57
category of victim of young person who
00:04:59
is familiar with these medicines thinks
00:05:01
they're safe thinks they're taking them
00:05:03
safely in the recommended dosage and
00:05:07
ends up being poisoned because it's not
00:05:09
what was presented it turned out to be
00:05:11
Fentanyl and that's that's what killed
00:05:14
[Music]
00:05:16
Charlie it really is an equal
00:05:18
opportunity crisis there's no Geographic
00:05:20
boundaries there's no gender boundaries
00:05:22
there's no socioeconomic boundaries this
00:05:24
is something that um everyone is at risk
00:05:28
and everyone has a stake in making sure
00:05:30
that we come up with better Solutions
00:05:32
when asked to describe the danger of
00:05:35
fentanyl only 58% of high schoolers uh
00:05:38
listed fentanyl as dangerous Which is
00:05:40
far below the number of high schoolers
00:05:43
that said cocaine or heroin were
00:05:45
dangerous and about equal to as many who
00:05:48
said cigarettes were dangerous the
00:05:51
problem is that 12 times more deaths are
00:05:55
being caused by fentanyl than being
00:05:57
caused by cocaine or heroin um yet
00:06:00
teenagers are rating it as uh far less
00:06:03
dangerous I think kids need to realize
00:06:05
that even if it comes from their best
00:06:07
friend it's most likely not safe because
00:06:11
the drug Supply right now is not
00:06:14
[Music]
00:06:19
safe producers of illicit drugs who
00:06:22
Supply the black market for street drugs
00:06:25
have shifted away from plant-based
00:06:29
products like for instance heroin to
00:06:32
synthetic chemicals like fentanyl it
00:06:35
makes these drugs extremely profitable
00:06:39
and this changes everything the drug
00:06:41
cartels are able to synthesize synthetic
00:06:45
fenel quite quickly in these makeshift
00:06:48
Labs we're talking about Metal tubs out
00:06:51
in the wilderness with shovels mixing
00:06:53
and so by the time it comes to you it
00:06:56
might look real but it is really very
00:06:58
dangerous
00:07:00
[Music]
00:07:02
fenyl is so potent that it takes such an
00:07:04
exceedingly small amount on the order of
00:07:07
really a grain of sand the tip of a
00:07:08
pencil to potentially be lethal it's
00:07:10
been approved for what we call analgesia
00:07:13
or pain for over 50 years in the United
00:07:16
States and it's been used effectively
00:07:18
and safely for general anesthesia for
00:07:20
Conscious Sedation um and in endof life
00:07:23
care for patients for instance with
00:07:24
cancer but when I give you fenyl in the
00:07:27
operating room several differences one
00:07:30
it's through a very closely calibrated a
00:07:33
very um quantifiable amount and we're
00:07:35
talking about micrograms when it's used
00:07:38
illicitly we're in the milligrams so
00:07:40
there's a th000 micrograms in a
00:07:42
milligram so that's a huge difference in
00:07:44
the quantity whether we're talking about
00:07:48
pain pills like oxycodone or heroin or
00:07:51
feny it can cause addiction the shorter
00:07:54
acting higher potency drugs are going to
00:07:57
be more addictive because your your body
00:07:59
gets that reward very quickly and then
00:08:02
it wears off very quickly which leaves
00:08:04
you wanting more in the beginning it was
00:08:07
fun you know it started out being fun
00:08:09
you know with my friends I'm just like
00:08:11
rebellious by nature and then it turned
00:08:14
into something I did every day regularly
00:08:16
it just got harder stronger you know
00:08:19
faster and I would convince myself it's
00:08:22
something that I need I absolutely felt
00:08:25
like at a certain point it was becoming
00:08:28
something that was bigger than me you
00:08:30
know and I didn't have control of it you
00:08:32
know I did push those feelings aside for
00:08:34
the longest time and Justified reasons
00:08:37
to myself why everything was okay and my
00:08:40
actions were okay how treating people
00:08:42
badly was okay you know and just
00:08:44
continued to go and go until like the
00:08:47
real consequences you know came to the
00:08:49
surface and for you you're like in this
00:08:53
place that you don't want to be at
00:08:54
before you even realize
00:08:55
[Music]
00:08:58
it
00:09:02
[Music]
00:09:08
we have two boys um miles uh is our
00:09:12
older son and our younger son Cal cow
00:09:16
was um very involved in theater and um
00:09:19
taught swim lessons and um very social
00:09:23
had lots of friends and he lived really
00:09:25
really large and um part of living large
00:09:28
with cow was his emotions with the co
00:09:32
epidemic um happening the wheels came
00:09:34
off a little bit we all leaned in
00:09:36
together as a family and got to be in
00:09:39
pretty pretty good shape before the fall
00:09:41
when he went off to University in Hawaii
00:09:44
and um had a pretty good first semester
00:09:47
uh when he came home at the holiday
00:09:49
break in December we were really looking
00:09:51
forward to um catching up with Cal and
00:09:54
when we woke up on Monday morning and
00:09:56
went in to check on him and um
00:09:58
unfortunately we found him
00:10:00
unresponsive and
00:10:03
um
00:10:05
we you know we called 911 and did CPR
00:10:09
and
00:10:10
um and Jennifer found a small bag with a
00:10:14
couple of blue pills in them next to him
00:10:18
Jennifer shared them with the sheriff's
00:10:19
deputy who said that looks like
00:10:21
oxycotton but it's most likely fenel and
00:10:24
he added if you're the praying type you
00:10:28
should start praying
00:10:30
So Cal was able to get to the hospital
00:10:32
um but we weren't able to bring Cal
00:10:35
home we discovered in Cal's um in his
00:10:39
browsing history that the day before he
00:10:42
purchased this pill he had gone online
00:10:45
and asked what is
00:10:47
oxycontin what's a safe dose for my
00:10:51
weight and how will it interact with my
00:10:53
anxiety medicine he definitely did not
00:10:56
have a you know a a dependency or sub s
00:10:59
use disorder um which I say not because
00:11:04
um that makes cow in any way a better um
00:11:08
person or his death matter more but
00:11:12
because I I mostly would like others to
00:11:15
know um that there may not be signs and
00:11:19
that you don't have to be down the road
00:11:22
of dependency or addiction to suffer uh
00:11:25
what happened to Cal in the age of fenel
00:11:30
[Music]
00:11:40
this is the generation that's very
00:11:42
familiar with prescription meds so if
00:11:45
you were born in the late '90s or early
00:11:47
2000s you had classmates who probably
00:11:49
were taking some medication for learning
00:11:51
differences anxiety sports injuries and
00:11:54
so the familiarity with these pills and
00:11:57
the fact that they're everywhere in
00:12:00
movies and pop culture and commercials
00:12:02
that there's a pill for every ill the
00:12:04
counterfeit pills that are on the market
00:12:05
today are very difficult to distinguish
00:12:08
from the real prescription pills they're
00:12:10
made in what's called a pill press and
00:12:12
the drug producers elicit drug producers
00:12:15
uh get the dyes the stamps and they put
00:12:18
them in these pill presses and they
00:12:19
Stamp Out pills that look like a real zy
00:12:21
bar or real peret the most commonly
00:12:25
counterfeited pill is what's presented
00:12:28
as an oxy
00:12:29
or a perco set and it's stamped with an
00:12:31
m on one side and a 30 on the other it's
00:12:35
so cheap to make and they're making
00:12:37
these um pills for cents and they're
00:12:40
selling them for dollar 10 15 20 and
00:12:43
they may have made it for 50 cents but
00:12:44
when somebody dies that person who's
00:12:47
selling them this they're not thinking
00:12:50
about that person they're thinking about
00:12:51
their profits the cost of doing business
00:12:54
includes some downsides like maybe they
00:12:57
lose some customers the US drug
00:12:59
enforcement agency tells us that 60% of
00:13:02
the counterfeit pills that are out there
00:13:03
right now contain potentially lethal
00:13:06
doses of fenel and so many of the pills
00:13:08
that people might think are real they
00:13:11
might think that that pill that they
00:13:13
encounter on social media that somebody
00:13:14
tries to sell them or that they
00:13:17
encounter you know through a drug dealer
00:13:18
who's trying to sell them something or
00:13:20
even just through a friend who's passing
00:13:21
them something that that pill more
00:13:23
likely than not is not what they think
00:13:26
it is it hasn't been prescribed by a
00:13:28
doctor it hasn't been dispensed by a
00:13:30
pharmacy and in fact it's it's fake and
00:13:32
more likely than not that the amount of
00:13:34
fentanyl in one of these pills could
00:13:36
kill someone we lost what was it 108,000
00:13:39
people last year to overdose and that's
00:13:41
just the fatalities there are a lot of
00:13:43
nonfatal overdoses as well years ago if
00:13:45
someone was was using heroin um it would
00:13:49
probably be far into their use before
00:13:51
they would be at the point where they
00:13:53
could overdose now you can overdose with
00:13:56
your first pill it's just a different
00:13:58
situation when I was growing up we
00:14:01
talked about the drug landscape in terms
00:14:03
of a path but today kids are faced with
00:14:07
a landscape that's less like a pathway
00:14:09
and more like a mindfield where their
00:14:11
first second or third step out there
00:14:13
could be their last because you don't
00:14:15
know what's in those
00:14:18
[Music]
00:14:23
substances Jules is about to enter her
00:14:27
junior year she was getting ready for
00:14:29
that and unfortunately did not make it
00:14:32
to her junior year she passed away
00:14:36
um few months short of her 16th birthday
00:14:41
so I had to have a birthday vigil for my
00:14:44
daughter instead of a sweet
00:14:47
[Music]
00:14:49
16 they're so
00:14:52
impressionable um we do live in a social
00:14:55
media world and
00:14:59
this this encounter this horrific life
00:15:03
event with my daughter Tom me just how
00:15:07
prevalent and easily
00:15:10
accessible
00:15:13
um things like this can become through
00:15:16
social media I thought I was checking on
00:15:18
my bases by having the conversation with
00:15:21
my children um
00:15:24
teenagers I didn't
00:15:27
know that there um was still a way that
00:15:31
they could be persuaded that my daughter
00:15:34
could be
00:15:35
[Music]
00:15:44
persuaded I was 15 years old and I was
00:15:48
curious about substances but I didn't
00:15:50
learn about it through any formal
00:15:52
sources and so I set about my own
00:15:55
experimentation without any guidance and
00:15:57
without any
00:15:59
um recommendations for staying safe and
00:16:02
I experienced um challenges and
00:16:05
consequences related to that and when I
00:16:09
recovered I realized that there was a
00:16:11
lot of other teens that were also
00:16:12
entering the space Also without
00:16:14
information and guidance and I think
00:16:16
that in order for us to effectively
00:16:18
deliver messages about drugs adults need
00:16:21
education too we need to equip parents
00:16:24
to have these conversations with their
00:16:26
teens we need to help parents understand
00:16:28
that the best way to approach their teen
00:16:30
is from a place of curiosity and
00:16:32
understanding and creating a safe space
00:16:34
so that if a young person has been using
00:16:36
substances they feel like they can
00:16:38
approach their parent about it or that
00:16:40
if they've got a friend who's struggling
00:16:41
they feel like they can let their parent
00:16:43
know
00:16:46
that the big three signs of an opioid
00:16:49
overdose such as one from fentanyl are
00:16:51
slow to no breathing
00:16:54
unconsciousness and pinpoint pupils how
00:16:57
you can check for those those three for
00:16:59
slow to no breathing you're going to
00:17:01
place your hand on the person's chest to
00:17:03
feel for the rise and fall of their
00:17:05
breath you can also place your hand
00:17:07
under their nose or over their mouth and
00:17:09
feel for their warm breath to check for
00:17:11
unconsciousness you're going to start by
00:17:13
shouting the person's name and asking if
00:17:15
they can hear you if they don't respond
00:17:18
to you verbally engaging with them
00:17:20
you're going to cause some painful
00:17:21
stimuli to do that you're going to give
00:17:23
them what's called a trap pinch you're
00:17:24
going to pinch the corner between their
00:17:26
neck and their shoulder as hard as you
00:17:29
can if you try that on yourself it hurts
00:17:32
so if you do that to somebody who might
00:17:34
be overdosing they're not going to
00:17:36
respond the third sign that you're going
00:17:38
to check for which is The Telltale sign
00:17:40
of an opioid overdose is pinpoint pupils
00:17:43
so how you're going to check for that
00:17:45
you can use a flashlight like the one on
00:17:47
your smartphone person's probably going
00:17:49
to be unconscious so you're going to
00:17:51
lift their eyelid and Shine the
00:17:53
flashlight into their eye for 3 to 5
00:17:56
Seconds when you move the flashlight
00:17:58
away normal people you will see their
00:18:00
pupil get bigger when the light is no
00:18:02
longer in their eye someone with a
00:18:04
fentanyl overdose their pupil is going
00:18:06
to remain pinpoint very tiny in the
00:18:08
middle of their eye it is absolutely
00:18:10
critical that you call 911 when somebody
00:18:12
is overdosed um because that makes sure
00:18:14
that they get the medical attention they
00:18:16
need and that could very much save their
00:18:18
life many states have what's called a
00:18:20
Good Samaritan law which protects people
00:18:24
who call
00:18:25
911 when they're in the possession of
00:18:27
drugs from being arrested for having
00:18:29
those drugs in the moment because these
00:18:30
laws are meant to encourage people to do
00:18:32
the right thing when someone's
00:18:37
overdosing Narcan is an opioid blocker
00:18:40
it's going to go into the bloodstream
00:18:43
and knock any opioid off of the receptor
00:18:46
and it's going to reverse that overdose
00:18:48
so that that person has a chance at life
00:18:50
we're using the term Narcan which is a
00:18:52
brand name the actual generic is no
00:18:55
loxone and there are many Brands the
00:18:57
side effects of of intranasal nxone or
00:19:00
Naran if somebody was not actually
00:19:02
overdosing the chance of having a
00:19:04
serious health problem as a result are
00:19:06
very small this is what Narcan looks
00:19:08
like if you're ever in a situation where
00:19:09
you're going to administer Naran you
00:19:12
should have already called 911 to
00:19:14
administer Narcan itself all you have to
00:19:16
do is take it out of the package it
00:19:17
looks like this you're going to insert
00:19:19
the plunger into the person's nose
00:19:21
either nostril and then press the pink
00:19:23
button down after that you're going to
00:19:25
want to clock about 2 minutes the person
00:19:28
should respond to the Naran within those
00:19:30
2 minutes if they're unconscious and not
00:19:32
breathing you will literally see them go
00:19:35
and begin breathing again if that
00:19:36
doesn't happen within the first 2
00:19:38
minutes continue doing that every 2
00:19:40
minutes until the person responds if
00:19:42
they don't respond after 3 doses you're
00:19:44
going to want to start giving rescue
00:19:46
breaths one more thing to remember about
00:19:48
Narcan is that anytime it's given a
00:19:51
person needs to go to the hospital
00:19:53
opioids can last longer than Narcan so
00:19:55
the Narcan might reverse the overdose
00:19:57
initially and then the Narcan wears off
00:19:59
and guess what's still in your
00:20:00
bloodstream the opioid can find those
00:20:03
receptors and they can reod Naran and
00:20:06
nxone in general is now approved over
00:20:08
the counter everyone should be trained
00:20:10
in how to recognize and respond to an
00:20:15
overdose if you're a person who needs
00:20:18
opioids and you have a dependence on
00:20:20
them it's very useful to use a fenel
00:20:22
test strip to determine if there's feny
00:20:24
or one of its analoges in the substance
00:20:27
you're about to take if you are in your
00:20:29
20s 30s and 40s and you're getting some
00:20:31
cocaine you should know that cocaine has
00:20:34
been contaminated and the frequency of
00:20:36
contamination is is rising FY test chips
00:20:38
can be used on any drug as long as you
00:20:41
prepare that drug correctly so we
00:20:43
instruct users to crush whatever it is
00:20:45
in its entirety mix that up and then you
00:20:47
use about 50 mg of that powder there is
00:20:51
a risk of getting a false negative the
00:20:54
test may not pick up the particular
00:20:55
analog the dilution rate might not be
00:20:57
right right so it's not foolproof
00:21:00
because the problem is inconsistent
00:21:02
dosing you can't shave some of a pill
00:21:06
and use that as your sample and not be
00:21:07
100% sure that there's not fentanyl in
00:21:09
the other portion of the pill and you
00:21:11
certainly can't test one pill from a
00:21:13
baggie have it come back negative and be
00:21:15
confident that the rest of the baggie
00:21:17
does not contain fentanyl the main
00:21:19
takeaway from that message is if anyone
00:21:21
presents a pill to you and says don't
00:21:23
worry this has been tested that is not a
00:21:25
true statement and you cannot trust any
00:21:28
pill that you get on the
00:21:29
street expectation is that you don't
00:21:33
take any pill or powder that's coming
00:21:35
from and unregulated Source but if you
00:21:37
did it is a non-negotiable to carry
00:21:40
Naran with you it is a non-negotiable to
00:21:43
not use a loan and it is a
00:21:45
non-negotiable to test your drugs these
00:21:47
are the steps you have to take while
00:21:50
it's not perfect it's the bare minimum
00:21:52
to keep yourself
00:21:57
alive I think it's a perfect storm I
00:21:59
think you've got kids coming out of Co
00:22:02
who are really struggling with a lot of
00:22:04
social anxiety particularly a lot of
00:22:07
depression and an inability to cope with
00:22:10
some of the big feelings they're having
00:22:12
I think you look at the isolation that's
00:22:14
sort of magnified by social media the
00:22:16
sort of looking at everyone else's
00:22:18
perfect life and feeling like yours is
00:22:20
not so perfect and then also the
00:22:22
deadliness of the drug Supply and all
00:22:24
those things come together and it is you
00:22:28
know a massive crisis that we're in
00:22:30
right now as a
00:22:35
country loo romis took a blue pill he
00:22:38
got from his friends they said it was
00:22:40
Percocet but it was actually pure
00:22:42
fentanyl he was left unconscious in a
00:22:45
parking lot and died alone at age
00:22:48
15 Kiren Taurus young and her friend
00:22:52
split a fake perette they ordered on
00:22:54
Snapchat both girls passed out but only
00:22:57
the friend friend could be resuscitated
00:22:59
Kirsten was just
00:23:03
19 Zack tier was bored with a lockdown
00:23:07
and wanted to experiment he was also
00:23:09
feeling stressed about his college
00:23:11
applications he connected with a dealer
00:23:13
on Snapchat and took a counterfeit
00:23:15
Percocet made a fentanyl Zach was 17
00:23:19
years old when he died Luca Manel was
00:23:22
having tooth pain when he was offered
00:23:24
per cassette by an online friend he died
00:23:26
alone in his bedroom just weeks before
00:23:28
his 14th birthday and the day before
00:23:31
starting 8ighth
00:23:34
grade I don't want anybody to be in my
00:23:37
seat I don't want other people to feel
00:23:40
this I don't want to keep hugging other
00:23:43
parents that have lost a child like I
00:23:48
[Music]
00:23:56
have
00:23:59
the best thing that parents can do is uh
00:24:02
educate themselves about the dangers of
00:24:06
drugs and right now not like what
00:24:08
happened 20 years ago what's going on
00:24:10
right now the worst thing you can do
00:24:12
would be trying to get in there and pry
00:24:14
it from them because then they're just
00:24:16
going to want to do it more you know
00:24:18
just talk to them like not like you're
00:24:20
telling them what to do but to help them
00:24:22
understand that you care about them I
00:24:24
think the power of these conversations
00:24:26
is they open up doors for help seeking
00:24:30
that when we have conversations about
00:24:32
drugs that are non-judgmental that are
00:24:34
honest that provide multiple Pathways
00:24:36
for staying safe not just abstinence
00:24:39
then we invite the kids in who need help
00:24:41
and instead of them turning to their
00:24:43
friends the naive leading the naive they
00:24:45
can come to an adult I think encouraging
00:24:48
help seeking behavior is really
00:24:50
important whether that's someone at
00:24:52
school or someone at home it's okay to
00:24:54
ask for help there's no there's no vower
00:24:57
in you know having day after tough day
00:25:02
and sticking it out and burying our
00:25:04
feelings and
00:25:05
saying I can get through this without
00:25:08
anyone else's help the thing that I did
00:25:11
was I got out of my comfort zone I did
00:25:14
things that made me feel
00:25:16
uncomfortable you know talk to people
00:25:19
made connections with people you know
00:25:22
actually ask for support I think that's
00:25:24
the biggest thing is people think asking
00:25:26
for help is a weakness
00:25:28
when it's actually a
00:25:29
strength and opening your mouth and
00:25:33
letting people know that you are
00:25:34
struggling because I feel like that's a
00:25:36
lot of the reason why people are ending
00:25:39
up dying and we losing people because
00:25:41
they don't want to admit that they they
00:25:43
need
00:25:49
help none of us asked for this crisis
00:25:53
none of us asked to have people we love
00:25:56
passing away due to a priv preventable
00:25:58
cause but that is the thing about it is
00:26:00
it is entirely preventable and every
00:26:03
single one of us can do our part by
00:26:05
being educated and carrying materials on
00:26:08
us that have the capacity to save lives
00:26:10
I think our greatest and most untapped
00:26:13
resource in this crisis is young people
00:26:16
themselves and when we prepare young
00:26:18
people beginning in sixth and seventh
00:26:20
and eth grade to be peer Educators to be
00:26:23
leaders of Public Health in this space
00:26:27
we shift culture and it's not drug
00:26:30
education that prevents drug problems
00:26:32
it's culture that prevents drug problems
00:26:34
and young people are Shapers of culture
00:26:36
we can stop these deaths from happening
00:26:39
we didn't start this problem but we can
00:26:41
be part of the
00:26:46
[Music]
00:26:56
solution
00:27:03
[Music]
