Carteret County Leaders Honored for Fentanyl Crisis Response at Community Forum

This past Saturday, a community forum addressing the impact of fentanyl in Carteret County was held at the Beaufort Train Depot. During the event, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, Assistant District Attorney Dave Spence, and Legal Assistant Michelle Gillikin, all of Prosecutorial District 4, were honored with the Save Lives Together Award for their collaborative work in holding fentanyl traffickers accountable. Additionally, Brooke Barnhill, manager of the Countyโ€™s Post Overdose Response Team (PORT), provided a Narcan (naloxone) demonstration and outlined local recovery resources.

Carteret County issued a news release from the event.

Fentanyl Victims Network featured in NC Sheriff’s April Newsletter

The Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina was featured in an article in the North Carolina Sherrif’a Association April newsletter. Read the newsletter online here.

Man charged for deadly drug overdose in Kannapolis

Read the original article and watch the video on the WCNC website.

Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution in connection to the death of Rodney Anthony.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. โ€” Police have arrested a suspect after a man died from an opioid overdose in April 2024.

Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution. He is accused of supplying drugs to Rodney Anthony, who died of an opioid overdose.

Anthony died on Fir Avenue on April 20, 2024, according to the Kannapolis Police Department. It took nearly a year after Anthony’s death to identify Horne as the suspect.

Horne was arrested on Tuesday. He is being held with a $750,000 bond in Cabarrus County jail. His next court date is April 9.

Morehead City man charged in OD death

Read the original article and watch the video on the WITN News 7 website.

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WITN) – A man has been charged with the overdose death of a woman last summer in Morehead City.

Morehead City police say Bryan Mace was arrested last Thursday on charges of death by distribution, possession with the intent to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, and delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance.

Police say Kaitlyn Curry died from an overdose last July. An arrest warrant said Mace delivered fentanyl to the 36-year-old woman

Mace was already in jail for related drug charges. His bond was increased by $750,000 due to these additional charges.

Woman pleads guilty to death by distribution charge

Read the original article on the Watauga Democrat website.

BOONE โ€” A woman pled guilty to death by distribution, marking the first conviction of its kind in Watauga County.

According to court documents, Angelina G. Miller, 30, was sentenced to 58-82 months in prison after she plead guilty to the charge that stemmed from a June 2023 arrest. She has already served 661 days.

Watauga County Sheriffโ€™s Office Det. William Watson, who was the lead investigator on the case, is pleased with the outcome.

โ€œOverdose deaths have too often been overlooked, but this conviction reinforces the importance of thorough investigations and justice for victims and their families,โ€ said Det. Watson. โ€œI extend my deepest condolences to the Greenlee family and friends mourning the tragic loss of Karma at just 22 years old. This investigation was conducted in her honor, ensuring her memory contributes to justice and awareness.โ€

Watson also expressed gratitude to the Watauga County District Attorneyโ€™s Office for its dedication to prosecuting this case, as well as the Boone Police Department, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Johnson County Sheriffโ€™s Office, Carter County Sheriffโ€™s Office and Hickory Police Department for their โ€œinvaluableโ€ support. He said the case was โ€œonly possible through the collective efforts of all involved.โ€

According to previous reporting by the Watauga Democrat, Miller sold Fentanyl to Karma L. Greenlee who later died due to an overdose on March 14, 2023.

WCSO detectives began an investigation into the suspected overdose with assistance from the Boone Police Department, Johnson County Sheriffโ€™s Office, Alexander County Sheriffโ€™s Office and the Hickory Police Department. Two suspects were identified for allegedly selling and distributing the Fentanyl that killed Greenlee: William M. Oxentine, of Johnson County, Tennessee, and Angelina G. Miller, of Catawba County. Oxentine will be served with the Death by Distribution charge once he has served his current time on the unrelated charges in Tennessee.

Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina Executive Director Barb Walsh said there were 35 fentanyl related fatalities between 2013-2023. Her daughter, Sophia Walsh, died in 2021 due to fentanyl.

โ€œUndisclosed fentanyl additives are found in fake/counterfeit pills such as Adderall, Xanax, Oxycontin and Percocet,โ€ Walsh said. โ€œVictims obtain fake pills off the internet like SnapChat, from local dealers or from friends. They do not know they are fake and deadly. A Pharmacy is the only safe supplier of prescription medication. Deadly undisclosed fentanyl additives may also occur in recreational drugs such as cocaine, meth and heroin. This is a public safety issue across the state.โ€

To learn more about fentanyl deaths in North Carolina and prevention tools, visit fentanylvictimsnetworknc.org.

โ€œThere is an antidote for opioid toxicity,โ€ Walsh said. โ€œIt is called naloxone, also known by brand names such as Narcan, Kloxxado, and Revive. Naloxone nasal spray can be obtained without prescription at a pharmacy, your local health department and from local Harm Reduction organizations.โ€

Watauga Sheriff Len Hagaman commended the investigative teamโ€™s hard work and emphasized the broader significance of this case.

โ€œWe hope that no other family has to endure the heartbreak of losing a loved one to an overdose. This conviction serves as a critical step in promoting accountability and preventing future tragedies in our community and beyond,โ€ said Sheriff Hagaman.

Reporter’s notebook: 8 theories why fentanyl deaths are plummeting

Read the original article on the NPR website.

The state of Virginia has seen drug overdose deaths plunge by more than 40% in a single year. Many other states are seeing improvements above 30%. Why is this happening? Researchers say it may be a combination of factors, some hopeful and some painful.

Over the past six months, I’ve been tracking something really cool and mysterious happening on American streets. For the first time in 30 years, drug deaths are plunging at a rate that addiction experts say is hopeful โ€” but also baffling.

In the past, even the most ambitious, well-funded efforts to slow drug deaths only helped a little bit. Reducing fatal overdoses by 8% or 9% was seen as a huge win.

But now, deaths nationwide plunged more than 26% from the peak in June 2023, according to the latest preliminary data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means roughly 30,000 fewer people a year are dying. Many states are seeing even bigger improvements of 30% to 50%. In some states, progress has been sustained since 2021 and 2022, which suggests this isn’t a temporary blip.

So how did the U.S. finally turn the corner on drug deaths?

What’s going on? No one knows for sure, but here are eight leading theories I hear from experts.

  1. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, may be the game-changer. The Biden administration raced to make this medication, a nasal spray that quickly reverses opioid and fentanyl overdoses, far more widely available. People can buy it now over the counter without a prescription. It’s distributed for free in many high-risk communities, and people using drugs often carry it. It’s unclear how many lives naloxone is saving each year, but many front-line public health workers tell me the impact is huge.ย Learn more here.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is much easier and more affordable than ever. People who use fentanyl now regularly revive one another after experiencing overdoses. Some public health experts and activists think this medication may be a big factor shifting the tide of America’s overdose crisis.
  1. Weaker fentanyl. Street fentanyl is incredibly potent. But in many parts of the U.S., organizations that test fentanyl doses sold by drug dealers โ€” often in pill form โ€” have found a significant drop in purity.ย No one’s sure why drug cartels have changed their mixtures. Some researchers believe law enforcement pressure in China, Mexico and the U.S. is disrupting the black market fentanyl supply chain.ย Learn more here.
  1. A dangerous but less lethal street drug supply. In most of the the U.S., gangs are selling complicated “cocktails” of street drugs. The amount of fentanyl appears to be dropping (see above), while the amount of animal tranquilizers, such as medetomidine and xylazine, is rising. These chemicals are highly toxic.ย They cause skin wounds, severe withdrawal symptoms and other long-term health problems. But doctors and addiction experts generally agree they aren’t as immediately lethal as fentanyl. That could mean more chronic illness but fewer fatal overdoses.ย Learn more here.
When America’s opioid crisis began in the 1990s, drug addiction treatment was rare and often came shrouded in stigma. The U.S. addiction treatment system and safety net have seen huge improvements over the past decade. Better medications are available, and in many communities, more resources are available to help people using highly dangerous drugs such as fentanyl.
  1. Better public health. Thirty years after the U.S. opioid crisis began โ€” and a decade after fentanyl spread nationwide โ€” the U.S. has made strides developing better and more affordable services for people experiencing addiction. Medications that reduce opioid cravings, including buprenorphine and methadone, are more widely available, in part because of insurance coverage provided by Medicaid. In many states, roughly $50 billion in opioid settlement money paid out by corporations is also starting to help. Going forward, it’s unclear how the Trump administration’s deep cuts to public health agencies and grants will affect this new addiction safety net.ย Learn more here.
  1. Many of the most vulnerable people have already died. This theory is discounted by some researchers I talk to, but many addiction experts think it’s a factor. Over the past five years,ย the U.S. has been losing roughly 110,000 people to fatal drug overdoses every year. It’s possible drug deaths are declining in part because a heartbreaking number of people using fentanyl and other high-risk street drugs simply didn’t survive.ย Learn more here.
  1. Waning effect of the COVID pandemic. The isolation, trauma and disruption of addiction treatment programs that followed the onset of COVID in 2020 overlap with the most devastating years of drug overdose deaths. Many public health experts believe the pandemic deepened the catastrophic impacts of fentanyl. According to this theory, as the impacts of COVID continue to fade, deadly overdoses are also declining to a more “normal” level.ย Learn more here.
  1. People are using fentanyl (and other high risk street drugs) more skillfully. This is a common theory among people who use street drugs. They often tell me they’ve adapted to the risks of fentanyl by smoking rather than injecting the drug, which many addiction experts believe is safer (though still incredibly dangerous). People try to never use fentanyl alone and often carry naloxone or Narcan to reverse overdoses. Many people use test strips to identify unwanted contaminants in their drugs and use smaller fentanyl doses.ย Learn more here.
  1. A decline in young people using drugs. Street fentanylย has emerged as a leading cause of death among young people in the U.S., age 18 to 45. But research suggests far fewer young people and teenagers are using drugs (other than cannabis). This trend matters because new users have low physical tolerance for opioids such as fentanyl, which means they’re more likely to overdose and potentially die. Fewer young users means fewer people taking that risk.ย Learn more here.

It’s important to emphasize all of these theories are just that โ€” theories. Most researchers, doctors and front-line care providers say they need more data and more time to understand a shift this large.

But there is a growing, tentative consensus that the answer may well be “all of the above.”

A big question going forward is How low will U.S. drug deaths go? We’ve already seen the biggest, fastest drop in U.S. history. So far, there’s no sign the improvement is slowing.

Families who lost loved ones to opioid crisis welcome Stein’s call for Fentanyl Control Unit

Read the original article and watch the video on the ABC11 News website.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — There’s a renewed push to get deadly drugs off of North Carolina’s streets. At last night’s State of the State address, Governor Josh Stein once again called for the creation of a Fentanyl Control Unit.

The task force would be comprised of law enforcement officers and prosecutors to find the illegal drug and go after those distributing it.

“Too many North Carolinians are like Debbie – parents, siblings, spouses, children, and friends who will never get their loved one back,” Stein remarked in his speech.

Governor Stein invited Debbie Dalton as one of his guests of honor to Wednesday’s address. The Charlotte mom lost her son, Hunter, to fentanyl in 2016.

Debbie Dalton, Husband, Son Hunter (middle)

On Thursday, ABC11 spoke with Debbie, who described the moment she received a standing ovation on the House floor.

“It was so surreal and so incredibly special. I’m humbled,” she said.

Debbie met Stein not long after Hunter died in 2016 and has used the last 8-plus years to advocate for the dangers of opioids. Their connection became so strong that she shared her story in a series of campaign ads for the Governor in the fall. Debbie said his memory still fuels her work on the issue.

Gov. Stein, Debbie Dalton

“We need more Hunters in the world,” Dalton said. “He was this great young man, and he could be contributing. While he made a bad decision that night, you’re not supposed to suffer that sort of consequence for your decision.”

For local anti-fentanyl advocates like Barb Walsh — who founded the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina — the establishment of a Fentanyl Control Unit is many years in the making.

“To me, it’s a continuation of the fight against fentanyl and his support of the over 18,000 devastated families who have a loved one who’s been killed by fentanyl,” Walsh said.

Walsh lost her daughter, Sophia, to fentanyl in August of 2021 and has since worked with lawmakers to getย new legislation passed, including a bill making it easier for prosecutors to go after people who sell bad drugs. She believes the time for bipartisan action on the issue is now.

Sophia Walsh



“This is not a red issue or blue issue. Fentanyl does not discriminate in who it kills,” Walsh said.

Stein’s remarks were met with bipartisan applause during last night’s address. The possibility of funding a possible Fentanyl Control Unit will likely arise during budget negotiations.

Bipartisan pair of senators reintroduce bill to expand fentanyl testing in hospitals

Read the original article on the NBC News website.

First to NBC News: The bill from Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., is called โ€œTylerโ€™s Law,โ€ named after a California teenager who died following a fentanyl overdose.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind.

WASHINGTON โ€” Nearly seven years after Tyler Shamash, a 19-year-old from California,ย died following a fentanyl overdose, a bill that his mother says could have prevented his death is getting renewed focus nearly 3,000 miles away in Washington, D.C.

Shamash overdosed a few days before he died while he was living at a sober living house in 2018. His mom, Juli Shamash, was told he tested negative for drugs because the five-panel tox screen doesnโ€™t test for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. 

โ€œHad we known, we could have sent him to a place with a higher level of care, instead of the sober living home where he died,โ€ Juli Shamash said in a statement.

She said she believes the doctor didnโ€™t know that fentanyl isnโ€™t included in the standard test run in emergency rooms across the country, which tests for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP and natural and semisynthetic opioids, but not synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., on Tuesday reintroduced the bill, called โ€œTylerโ€™s Law,โ€ that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to provide hospitals with guidance on implementing fentanyl testing in routine ER drug screens, according to a news release first shared with NBC News.

In the House, Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., also reintroduced the legislation Tuesday.

Juli Shamash said, โ€œThis bill will save lives in situations like Tylerโ€™s, as well as in cases where people are brought into an ER for an overdose of one substance, but they unknowingly consumed fentanyl from a poisoned product.โ€  

Continue reading “Bipartisan pair of senators reintroduce bill to expand fentanyl testing in hospitals”

Deadliest phase of fentanyl crisis eases, as all states see recovery

The deadliest phase of the street fentanyl crisis appears to have ended, as drug deaths continue to drop at an unprecedented pace. For the first time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now seen at least some recovery.

Read the original article on the NPR website.

A new analysis of U.S. overdose dataย conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also found that the decline in deaths began much earlier than once understood, suggesting improvements may be sustainable.

Lenoir woman jailed under $500K bond, charged with death by distribution

Read the original article no the WSOC TV9 website.

LENOIR, N.C. โ€” A woman has been accused of giving a deadly dose of fentanyl to a woman in Concord.

Last February, Hayli White was found along Misty Wood Lane, but police believe the drugs were sold to her in Caldwell County.

โ€œStill shock and disbelief,โ€ said Whiteโ€™s stepfather, Dustin Carswell. โ€œYou expect to see her come through the door at night, and she doesnโ€™t. It just doesnโ€™t seem real still.โ€

The Caldwell County Sheriffโ€™s Office said they originally arrested Jessica McMahon four days after Whiteโ€™s death.

Deputies told Channel 9โ€ฒs Dave Faherty that they seized fentanyl and other narcotics concealed in a hide-a-can they believe she purchased online that looks like a bleach and carpet cleaner bottle.

At the time, McMahon was charged with trafficking, but deputies said they were unaware of Whiteโ€™s death in Concord.

The Concord Police Department alerted them to the death ten days later after finding text messages in Whiteโ€™s phone.

Caldwell County Sheriff Kevin Bean said one of his top priorities since taking office last August is stopping the sale of fentanyl and other drugs and preventing tragedies like Whiteโ€™s.

โ€œItโ€™s my belief that if drug dealers sell this poison to our children and family members and a death occurs, they should be charged with first-degree murder and sent away for life,โ€ Bean elaborated.

Whiteโ€™s family said they hoped the arrest would prevent another senseless death, and they believe by speaking out theyโ€™ll possibly help someone else.

โ€œWe understand that itโ€™s not going to bring Hayli back, and we just donโ€™t want other families to go through what we have during the past year,โ€ said Carswell.

โ€œItโ€™s not uncommon, you know. And you just donโ€™t think itโ€™s going to happen to you or your family,โ€ said Whiteโ€™s sister, Makenzie Kepler.

McMahon was arrested again on Monday in connection with this incident. She has been charged with death by distribution and is being held in jail under a $500,000 bond, sheriffโ€™s deputies said.

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