The McShin Foundation in Richmond hosts monthly CARE TALKS.
This months topic was Coping With Grief. My friend Betty Ramsburg shared about losing her son Travis. She has since worked with the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department to create the Travis Project which equips their officers with Narcan. What a warrior she is!
In The News
McShin Care Talks: Coping With Grief
I cannot wait for tomorrow night’s Care Talks. The topic will be “Coping With Grief” and my friend Betty and I will be traveling to Richmond to share about coping with loss and solutions to addiction. Come out if you can!
Culpeper Overdose Awareness Participates in Awareness Campaign
New police video raises awareness
of area drug crisis
A new hard-hitting short video by the Culpeper Police Department, viewer discretion advised, emphasizes the life-and-death nature of the ongoing drug crisis with its actual body cam footage of a man overdosed on a bathroom floor. Culpeper Police Captain Timothy Chilton is featured next, commenting on the “staggering” level of opioid overdoses in the last few years.
“The heroin crisis has certainly claimed many lives in our community and has forever changed many families,” states Police Chief Chris Jenkins. “The Culpeper Police Department is committed in our efforts to combat this deadly opiate public health crisis. We will continue to provide prevention, education and enforcement and use all available resources at our disposal to fight against this epidemic.” [Read more…] about Culpeper Overdose Awareness Participates in Awareness Campaign
Culpeper County, like others nationwide, launches investigation into
financial burden of opioid epidemic
Culpeper is joining a nationwide trend in launching an investigation into the financial burden of the opioid epidemic upon the county, its budgets and its departments, which could lead to county government filing suit against major drug manufacturers.
Read more of this article by Allison Brophy Champion at the Culpeper Star Exponent
Death Certificates Don’t Lie
Overall fatal drug overdoses decline,
but cocaine and methamphetamine
deaths climb
DEATH CERTIFICATES DON’T LIE
When people hear that my son died of cocaine/fentanyl poisoning, many are hesitant to believe it.
“Are you sure?”
“That doesn’t make sense, one is a
stimulant and the other is a depressant”
“That must not be right.”
I’ve heard it all.
I was not there when Joe died, and I am no doctor, but I know this . . .
Joe’s toxicology results tell a story.
They tell a story of his last hours.
A story I have no other way of knowing because no one is talking – not to me at least.
This is all I have – the pure medical science of it.
A beautiful life condensed to a sheet of paper full of nonsensical numbers, sent to me in the mail by strangers who never even touched his body.
Did you know they don’t even bother doing autopsies on these deaths anymore? Apparently,
the cost is too great – the backlog too enormous – the results assumably known.
Oh, that not one more will die Lord.
That not one more family with know these awful truths.
That is my prayer. But I know in this fallen world – I ask the impossible.
So, I press on with awareness. With speaking out at every opportunity. Here is another awareness article from the Roanoke Times that I was happy to contribute to.
In memory of Joe,
but really . . .
for those still alive.
At first, Dee Fleming assumed her son died of a heroin overdose since that’s the opioid that’s been dominating the public’s attention. When she received the death certificate, she was surprised to learn that her son had died from a combination of cocaine and fentanyl, an opiate painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
After years of relatively stable numbers of cocaine overdoses in Virginia, in 2016, deaths increased 40 percent over the year before. In 2016 and 2017, fentanyl was implicated in more than 54 percent of cocaine deaths.
Read the full article by Amy Friedenberger at The Roanoke Times
Voices of Addiction & Recovery Symposium
I was grateful to participate in the Voices of Addiction & Recovery Symposium. Co-hosted by the Windmore Foundation for the Arts, it’s goal was to share the challenges that someone with addiction faces and the reality that there is hope – recovery is possible.
The Symposium included a panel discussion with Culpeper Police Captain Tim Chilton, local Medication Assisted Treatment provider Dr. DeRoo, Prevention Specialist Alan Rasmussen with the Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services, and myself, representing Culpeper Overdose Awareness and families who’ve lost a loved one to addiction.
Interspersed among panel discussions were readings of poetry that convey the struggle and depth of pain addiction brings. Community member Ralisha Banks read a poem she authored, “She Is Me,” sharing her experience of growing up in a home with abuse and drug addiction, a pattern that showed up in her own adult life. Her words were the most powerful of the night.
A display of art made by folks in recovery or still struggling with drug abuse was on display, and community resources were on hand for everyone to take.
Read the full story by Allison Brophy Champion at The Culpeper Star Exponent.
*All photos by Allison Brophy Champion
EPiC continues efforts to educate, understand addiction issues
I was privileged to share Joe’s story with the Epidemic Intelligence Council (EpIC) . . .
EPiC was developed by Orange County Department of Social Services Director Crystal Hale in an attempt to bring together people from a cross-section of different disciplines and professions within the community to discuss the opioid epidemic.
“We know there is a problem and things are being done, but I think capturing what exactly is being done and identifying what’s not being done might be a good start,” Hale said.
The average age of patients for all overdose calls in Orange County is 40 years old, and the average age range of deaths due to opioids in the county is 35 to 44.
According to a map produced by the Virginia Department of Health, Orange, Culpeper and Fauquier counties have the highest fentanyl and/or heroin overdose mortality rates in the state.
Read the full article from the Orange County Review HERE
College Students Addressing the Opioid Crisis
College students are addressing the opioid crisis on campuses across the nation.
County Will Host Opioid Crisis Retreat Feb. 16
He expects next month’s half-day retreat to answer a range of big questions related to Fauquier’s opioid addiction problems.
“I think what everybody wants to know is: What are the various types of overdoses that are happening monthly, quarterly, annually in the county” Supervisor Chris Granger (Center District) said. “Who’s working on treatment? From a nonprofit and governmental side, what kind of resources are there? What’s missing”
The sheriff’s office and town police department documented 104 drug overdoses during 2017. [Read more…] about County Will Host Opioid Crisis Retreat Feb. 16
Toxicology Results
Cocaine laced with fentanyl killed Culpeper man – not heroin
Now three months after his death, we have received Joseph’s toxicology results from the medical examiner’s office.
Honestly, I was shockedby the results: cocaine/fentanyl poisoning. The assumption was that Joseph died because of heroin. But none was found in his system. Fentanyl is everywhere, it can be in anything. Read the full story HERE