Families of people who have died due to fentanyl use urged North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday to do more to prevent other people from feeling their pain.
Fentanyl deaths are on the rise in North Carolina, state data shows:
- 2,838 people died from fentanyl from January 2023 โ October 2023
- 2,797 people died from fentanyl from January 2022 โ October 2023
October 2023 represented the most recent data the North Carolina Department of Health and Human and Human Services could provide.
Theresa Mathewson, whose son Joshua died in August 2022 at the age of 27 from fentanyl poisoning, was among the families visiting North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday.
The group is advocating for North Carolina lawmakers to mandate having a box of naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, in every school in the state. Some people who attended Wednesdayโs event said they were confident state leaders will utilize $350,000 of the $350 million in opioid settlement funds that North Carolina received to make it a reality.
Theresa Mathewson said she found her son unresponsive in his bedroom.
โHe was getting ready to complete some tasks for a new job,โ she said of her late son.
Theresa Mathewson said he son took half of a pill with roughly 14 times the lethal dose of fentanyl in it.
โ[It was] enough to kill him and all his closest friends.
โIt should be an eye-opener,โ said Chelsea Mathewson, who is the sister of Joshua Mathewson.
The Mathewsons have started several grassroots organizations in Harnett County to spread awareness of the dangers of opioid use.
In 2022, more than 4,300 people in North Carolina died from all opioid exposure.
โPart of likes these [events] because I don’t feel alone, but I hate them,โ Chelsea Mathewson said. โI absolutely hate them.
โI hate that there’s another mother and father going through it.โ
Danielle Erving, whose son died from fentanyl poisoning, also attended Wednesdayโs event.
โNobody deserves this heartbreak because it can happen to anybody,โ Erving said.
Jazmine Brown, whose brother died from fentanyl poisoning, echoed Ervingโs sentiments.
โNobody is safe from this, as sad as it is,โ Brown said. โThatโs the most important thing for people to acknowledge.โ