Photo Caption: West Brook High School and Lamar University alumnus and Baptist Hospital emergency room physician Dr. Charles Huynh talks about the physical effects of fentanyl on the human body at the One Pill Can Kill conference. Photo: Mali Waters
October 23, 2023
By Karen Rendon & Mali Waters
Staff Writers
Several survivors of fentanyl overdoses spoke out at the One Pill Can Kill conference held at West Brook High School’s Performing Arts Center Sept. 20. The event, sponsored by the Beaumont Police Department and Beaumont ISD, was to inform, raise awareness, and educate people about fentanyl and the dangers of this drug.
Principal Nicholas Phillips said BISD principals were notified recently that district schools would be receiving NARCAN and training on how to administer NARCAN to students or adults on campus that could possibly have overdosed on opioids.
“Our district is being very progressive in facing those challenges headlong, so we are thankful for that,” he said.
Phillips introduced the main speakers at One Pill Can Kill, which included U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston, Jefferson County District Attorney Keith Ghibli, and Houston HIDTA.
“We see the wave coming,” Ghibli said. “In 2021, 71,000 Americans overdosed on fentanyl and died.”
Just 10 to 12 salt grains of fentanyl can kill someone, he said.
“We’ve seen the overdose increase here in Jefferson County, we’ve seen people’s kids that have taken pills thinking they were Adderall and it’s going to help them stay up and take a test, seeing them pass away,” Ghibli said. “Here in Region 5, we lead the state. We are number one, so it’s here.”
Law enforcement investigations will continue prosecuting people who sell fentanyl, Ghibli said, but it’s not going to be enough. He said everyone who attended the conference should talk to others about how deadly fentanyl is, especially their children.
“Our children are innocently taking one Adderall to help them stay up and study,” he said. “They’re innocently taking one hydrocodone to help them overcome an injury. And they’re innocently taking one Xanax that they got off Snapchat or some other place, to help with anxiety, and they’re dying. One pill. We have to get the word out.”
Wyndi and Mical Padgett unfortunately lost their son Blaine, a Hardin Jefferson High School graduate, due to fentanyl.
After Blaine went to play football for the University of Houston, he had surgery for an injury he had in his shoulder. Blaine bought what he thought were two hydrocodone from a former teammate, that actually contained carfentanil, they said. He unfortunately passed away in his sleep.
“Your kids, your family members need to know not to take anything from anybody unless it has their name on it, their prescription from a doctor,” Wyndi Padgett said.
Overdose deaths from fentanyl have surpassed both vehicle and gun related deaths combined, and fentanyl is killing people that are not just stereotypical drug addicts, Featherston said.
“This type of fentanyl that we’re talking about is not medical fentanyl but an unregulated, synthetic chemical,” he said.
Single mother Chelsea Chanslor is in recovery from opioid addiction.
Chelsea’s mother Colleen talked about how mental health and bullying challenges led to both Chelsea and her sister to self medicate. Both Chelsea and her mother want to increase the education about NARCAN all around schools and communities.
“The last five overdoses, if I had not been there, she would have died,” Colleen Chanslor said. “The first two overdoses were before I knew about NARCAN, but the last three, I kept NARCAN in my purse. It’s in my truck, it’s in my house, because you never know when someone is going to fall out from an overdose.”
Families who have lost someone to fentanyl overdose are left with lifelong trauma and grief.
“Fentanyl has changed families, it has changed communities, it has changed school districts, it has changed the way people live their life, it has changed the history of families because it has taken so many people,” Featherston said. “Unfortunately, we have thousands dying every single month across the nation.”
“It is a disease of the brain, and it cannot be cured, but it can be managed,” Chelsea Chanslor said. “No matter how low you get, what’s stopping you from getting better?
“I am fighting for my life because this disease wants me dead. Today, I have the power to say that my disease of addiction no longer has that control over me. Today, I’m grateful to be alive.”
For more information about fentanyl poisoning, visit www.dea.gov/onepill. If you or anyone you know is suffering from addiction, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1 (800) 662-4357.
Anyone can order free intranasal NARCAN spray from morenarcanplease.com. Orders may take 30-45 days to arrive, according to the non-profit Next Harm Reduction’s website. Those who know someone with a high risk of overdose may qualify to receive intramuscular naloxone from NEXT Distro.
