WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Rapper 22Jax wants to give a voice to families who have lost loved ones because of fentanyl and spread awareness about the drug.
On Sunday in Legion Stadium, rapper Alexander Whittington, also known as โ22Jax,โ held a music video shoot and fundraising event for fentanyl awareness.
โThe main purpose of this event is to inspire more people to speak up that felt as though they lost their voice or felt that the memory of their loved ones are lost,โ said 22Jax.
The music video shoot is for 22Jaxโs new song โFor Yโallโ featuring musician LadyDice. The song was released earlier this month, and 40% of the songโs proceeds will go to organizations helping raise fentanyl awareness.
22Jax says it is more than just addiction and overdoses. โThe insane thing is, all these things are happening and no one is doing anything, so I decided to use my platform to reach the youth and grab all of these organizations,โ said 22Jax.
โIt wasnโt until I really got involved with the song that I was really educated. The numbers and the statistics, itโs out of this world. I just feel like people need to know more and I am just trying to forward the education that I have received and try to save some lives,โ said LadyDice.
Michikoโs Voice is a non-profit based out of Johnson County and is one of the organizations that will receive proceeds from For Yโall. Kamaya Duff lost her 23-year-old sister Michiko, who died from fentanyl poisoning.
Duff says her sister unknowingly took 29mg of fentanyl.
โWhen my sister passed we were lost, it took us 15-18 months to get her toxicology back,โ said Duff.
Many families in attendance at the music video and fundraiser event say they waited months before finding out the cause of death of their loved ones. They say itโs a healing experience to be around other people who have experienced similar pain.
โThere is no stigma, it can happen to anyone, first-time users, non-users, addicts. It can happen to anyone,โ said Duff. โIt can be any adult or child it happens to the innocent and the non-innocent,โ she added.
The event also had free Naloxone and training to help prevent fentanyl poisoning and save lives. 22Jax says he appreciates the community support and hopes to keep spreading fentanyl awareness across the state and country.
โItโs overwhelming, I didnโt think the turnout would be so well,โ said 22Jax.
WHO: Open to the Public! Kid Friendly! FREE! Anyone who lost a loved one to fentanyl, allies, advocates for life-saving NALOXONE in ALL NC SCHOOLS, music lovers, students, educators, health care providers, publicity hounds, anyone who dreams of being in a music video, law enforcement, press, nonprofits, those in recovery.
FEATURED ARTISTS: 22JAX & LADYDICE song collaboration โFor Yallโ
Z107.5 fm with Foz broadcasting live!
SCHEDULE 12-4pm: 12 gates open. Entire time = games, raffle, food & music. 1-2pm Nonprofits Speak on Dangers of Fentanyl & Urge Naloxone in ALL NC Schools & Public Spaces. 2-3pm Video Shoot. 3:30 Raffle Drawing.
NC NONPROFITS WHO FIGHT FENTANYL SAVE LIVES TOGETHER!
Fentvic.org, Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina
Forgotten Victims of North Carolina
Fight4Me Foundation
Itโs Bigger Than Me: Michiko LaโDeja Duff Foundation
FACTS:
17,212 NC residentsโ fentanyl involved fatalities in 10 years. Fentanyl fatalities occur in all 100 NC Counties, 2013-Jan 2024 (NC OCME)
469 fentanyl fatalities in New Hanover County in 10 years 2013-3/2023 (NC DPH Injury&Prevention Branch Epidemiology Surveillance Informatics unit)
7 out of 10 โstreetโ pressed copy-cat pills contain lethal fentanyl additives (DEA 2023)
10 NC residents killed by fentanyl each day (NC OCME)
This means 10 more NC families implode each day.
NC is #4 in nation in fentanyl fatalities (CDC 2023) yet #10 in population.
Fentanyl is leading cause of death in NC for 18โ25-year-olds (CDC 2022)
Links to NC fentanyl fatality data. Go towww.fentvic.org website, select RESOURCES tab, select NC COUNTY REPORTS, select COUNTY NAME you are interested in.
RULES: Have fun! Sandbags must be used for all tents and banners, no stakes in ground. No weapons of any kind. No alcohol. No political signs
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Promoter Scott Maitland and rapper โ22JAXโ are taking action through music and community organizations to raise awareness about fentanyl overdose deaths.
This Sunday, May 19, they are organizing a music video shoot and fundraiser at Legion Stadium from noon to 4 p.m. There will be games and activities for families, food trucks and Foz of Z107.5 FM broadcasting live on-site.
40 percent of the revenue made by the song will be donated to fentanyl awareness nonprofits like Fight4Me and FentVic.
Maitland and 22 Jax visited the WECT studio for an interview on Thursday, and you can watch that full interview at the top of this story.
by Jennifer Fernandez, North Carolina Health News May 9, 2024
By Jennifer Fernandez
GREENSBORO โ Randy Abbott lost his daughter to a drug overdose in 2015.
No one called for help in time.
Diannee Cardenโs son died from a heroin overdose in 2012.
No one called for help in time.
As North Carolina continues to lose more people to overdoses every year โ a record 4,339 in 2022 โ parents and families are calling for a change in state laws that they say would encourage people to call for help, even if they had used drugs themselves or had supplied the potentially fatal dose.
โWe do not support the current approach of tougher criminality in prison for the non drug dealer who participates in an overdose event,โ Carden said Wednesday during a news conference on the changing legal landscape of the opioid epidemic.ย
Diannee Carden
โWe cannot be quiet. We will continue, as family members who have lost someone to overdose, to speak out. We want policies that work to keep people alive with compassion, support and harm reduction,โ added Carden, who founded ekiM for Change after her sonโs death (the organizationโs name honors her son Mike, using his name spelled backwards). The Pitt County-based nonprofit provides a variety of harm reduction services, from clean needles and naloxone to fentanyl test strips and HIV testing.ย
Abbott spoke earlier in the week at a news conference in Greensboro to release the results of a new survey from Expand Good Sam NC that showed likely North Carolina voters also want to see changes in the stateโs Good Samaritan law.
โIn a drug overdose event, voters clearly state that greater emphasis needs to be placed on saving an overdose victimโs life instead of charging someone with a drug offense,โ said Abbott, coalition coordinator and a parent advocate.
Expand Good Sam NC is a coalition of organizations from across the state proposing key changes to the stateโs Good Samaritan law that they say will encourage people to call for assistance without fear of penalty.
The group commissioned a poll of likely voters conducted by phone last month by Strategic Partners Solutions, a Raleigh-based consulting firm. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Among its findings:
At least three-quarters of the 600 voters surveyed, from across the political spectrum, agreed that โSaving the life of someone who has overdosed should be more important than catching the person who supplied the drugs.โ
Over two-thirds of the voters across all demographic subsets agree that a person who calls 911 for assistance in a drug overdose situation should not be charged with possession as long as they are not a drug trafficker.
These voters also overwhelmingly agree (75.5 percent) on providing protection to university students who call to report an overdose.
Nearly two-thirds (66.2 percent) of the surveyed voters agree that a person should not be charged with โdeath by distributionโ if they called for assistance.
Of the randomly selected people surveyed, close to two in five said they have had a friend or family member die from an overdose, something that was more common for the people from rural areas.ย
Mary O’Donnell has long supported expanding the stateโs Good Samaritan laws. Her son Sean died in 2017 after passing out while drinking with friends at a quarry near his Chatham County home. Frightened, his friends left him behind. He later fell into the quarry and drowned.ย
She encouraged supporters to let lawmakers know they want to see changes in the laws to help prevent more deaths.
Abbott said the changes are needed.
โWeโre losing a generation,โ he said. โWeโre losing lives every day.โ
Last year, North Carolina legislators joined a growing list of states that have strengthened โdeath by distributionโ laws. At the same time, the state broadened its Good Samaritan law to grant limited immunity from prosecution for possession of up to one gram of any drug. Previously, only certain drugs such as cocaine and heroin were covered.ย
Abbott and Expand Good Sam NC said the changes to the Good Samaritan law donโt go far enough.
And Carden said making distribution laws harsher went too far.
They believe harsher punishments only put more lives at risk because people who fear getting charged for drug use are less likely to help someone who is overdosing.ย ย
Barb Walsh, executive director of Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, isnโt happy with some of the changes to the stateโs Good Samaritan law for a different reason: The expansion to all drugs includes fentanyl, which is highly potent and is the leading cause of overdoses in North Carolina.ย
Fentanyl is the drug that killed her 24-year-old daughter in 2021 when she unknowingly drank a bottle of water laced with the drug. No one has been charged in her daughterโs death.
โI disagree with that policy but went along with it to get the modified law passed,โ Walsh said, adding that she thinks possession of illicit drugs as potent as fentanyl that could kill so many people is wrong.
She has been focusing her harm reduction efforts on getting the lifesaving opioid-reversal drug naloxone into the stateโs schools.ย
Naloxone in schools
Last week, Walsh hosted a Fentanyl Awareness Day in Raleigh at the General Assembly. More than 75 families met with legislators to talk about their concerns and to encourage support for efforts like getting naloxone in schools.ย
The next day lawmakers introduced two bills that would appropriate $350,000 from state Opioid Settlement Funds to send naloxone to all of the stateโs schools.
However, since school boards make policy decisions on the use of naloxone, Walsh said her organization is working on encouraging school systems to take advantage of the availability of the opioid-reversal drug.
She said Wake County Public Schools is considering a plan to approve having naloxone in all of its schools and may vote on it later this month.
The district, the largest in the state, already allows school resource officers to carry naloxone. The school districtโs policy committee is recommending training some staff members in every school on recognizing signs of an opioid emergency and on using naloxone, according to news reports.
Last school year, school nurses, staff or SROs administered naloxone 21 times on school grounds in the state, according to the annual School Health Services Report Brochure. The year before, it was used 14 times.
โUnrelenting diseaseโ
North Carolina families that shared their stories of loss at the two events this week said they want lawmakers to decriminalize drug possession, increase harm reduction and addiction services, open overdose prevention centers, and provide evidence-based voluntary treatment options.
โShe was a beautiful, caring, timid, sweet girl who wanted nothing but to love and be loved, to be free of this unrelenting disease,โ Drake said of her daughter Kaitlyn, who died in 2020 at age 23. โShe tried to outrun it many times, but it always seemed to catch up to her.โ
Drake said GCStop was always there for her daughter when she was in active addiction. So it felt natural to her to give back when she was in recovery. She was volunteering up until the week before she relapsed and fatally overdosed.
โThe road that brought me here is not one that I would ever have chosen but will continue to travel it in hopes to be able to spare another family from this unending pain,โ Drake said.ย
She said she also wants to spare another person โwho doesnโt deserve to dieโ because someone is afraid theyโll be punished โfor simply doing the right thing โ calling for help.โ
The North Carolina Senate and House both have bills (SB801, HB999) working through their respective chambers in support of Naloxone in schools – a key ask Fentvic.org has been working on the past few months.
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
Families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl are meeting with state lawmakers Wednesday morning to talk about the dangers of the drug, what can be done to save lives โ and ask lawmakers to do something about this.
Families say there’s a need for more support and public education.
Families of people who have lost somebody to fentanyl will have their photos on display here at the legislative building, so lawmakers can see the faces of people who have died in their community.
When you look at theย data,ย more than 17,000 Northย Carolinians have died of fentanyl overdosesย since 2013.
Several non-profits and advocates are pushing for Naloxone to be in every school in the state. Itโs a lifesaving medication that can be administered through nasal spray if an opioid or fentanyl emergency occurs in a classroom.
Theyโre calling on the general assembly to appropriate $350,000 of an opioid settlement fund that the state controls. They also want lawmakers to provide two boxes or four doses of Naloxone to all public schools.
“I would like to put faces instead of numbers in peopleโs minds because when they look at somebody who is young and vibrant and now dead, theyโre like ‘oh, that could be me, my son, my daughter,'” Walsh said.
Wednesdayโs press conference begins at 10 a.m. followed by a meeting with lawmakers.
CARY, N.C. (WTVD) — On Tuesday, Wake County school officials took another step toward putting potentially life-saving medicine into public schools — countywide.
Wake County School Board members approved a new policy Tuesday that would require all schools in the county to keep a supply of Naloxone — also known by its brand name Narcan — and train faculty members on how to use it. Families who have been touched by the fentanyl epidemic say that’s a big win.
“The more we say fentanyl out loud without shame, the more people understand that anybody could die,” said Barb Walsh, a Cary mom and founder of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
Someone’s going to die because Naloxone wasn’t in school. And is that a risk they want to take?
Barb Walsh, founder of Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina
Barb’s daughter, Sophia, died in August 2021 after drinking from a water bottle that had the dangerous opioid mixed into it. Since then, Barb’s made it her mission to not only support families like hers but also promote life-saving medicine however she can. She founded the Fentanyl Victims Network in August 2022, one year after Sophia died.
“I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen just in case I have a fire, that’s because I want one,” she said. “Naloxone is the same thing.”
In December, Barb attended a Wake County school board meeting, urging officials to consider requiring Naloxone be put into schools. Now, that’s one step closer to becoming reality, after a new policy was approved — and just needs to be voted on to become official.
“We don’t know where the threat is going to come from. But if we have a tool that can save a life, particularly one of our students’ lives, we want to do everything we can to take those steps,” said board chair Chris Heagarty.
According to state health statistics, Naloxone was used for suspected overdoses 21 times on school grounds statewide last year. Walsh said it’s not worth waiting for more.
“It may not have happened in North Carolina yet. But someone’s going to die because Naloxone wasn’t in school. And is that a risk they want to take?” she said.
Though there’s work to be done — only about 20% of North Carolina’s public school districts have Naloxone policies — the significance of Tuesday’s decision isn’t lost on Walsh.
“It doesn’t take an army. It doesn’t take a lobbyist. It takes a mom who’s lost a child to stand in front of the school board to make this happen. And that’s significant,” she said.
Funding for the new policy is not yet clear. Heagarty said they’ll be targeting possible state and federal funds in addition to county funding out of the superintendent’s budget. The policy will be discussed at a full board meeting in May, and if passed could be in place by next school year.
Narcan is the FDA-approved nasal form of naloxone for the emergency treatment of a known or suspected opioid overdose. The Wake County school board is considering a policy to have naloxone at all schools. News & Observer file photo
Wake County schools could soon be stocked with Naloxone to treat potential opioid overdoses on campus.
The school boardโs policy committee recommended on Tuesday new rules on emergency use of Naloxone. The policy requires schools to train people in how to administer Naloxone and directs Superintendent Robert Taylor to develop a program to place Naloxone at schools, early learning centers and district administrative offices.
โThis is fantastic,โ said school board member Sam Hershey. โThis warms my heart weโre going in this direction. I think itโs crucial. At some point itโs going to hit, and weโve got to be as ready as we can be.โ
by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News April 18, 2024
By Jaymie Baxley
Small purple boxes have become a promising tool in Wilson Countyโs fight to lessen the deadly toll of the opioid epidemic.ย
ONEbox is a first aid-like kit that contains doses of naloxone, a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose. When the kit is opened, a screen embedded in the lid plays a video of a paramedic giving step-by-step instructions for administering the drug.
โLetโs take a deep breath,โ says the woman in the video, speaking in either English or Spanish, depending on the language selected. โStep No. 1 is to check to see if somebody really is unresponsive. You can do that by gently shaking them or shouting, or you can use your knuckles against the sternum to see if you get a reaction.โ
Dozens of the kits have been placed in strategic locations throughout Wilson County in recent weeks. Jeff Hill, executive director of the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition, said he wants the boxes to become so ubiquitous that โany layman will know what it is, know how to identify it and know how to use it.โ
โAt the end of the day, we understand that anybody in the right place, right time and right scenario can become, or needs to become, a first responder,โ he said. โWherever I can’t be, a ONEbox can โ and that could be the difference between life and death.โ
Joe Murphy, left, Susan Bissett and Jeff Hill in front of the Wilson County Public Library, one of more than 60 local sites where ONEbox kits have been distributed since February.
โCommunity of first respondersโ
Hill first encountered ONEbox at a conference last year in Washington, D.C. Impressed with the kitโs lifesaving potential, he brought back a sample to show county officials.
โMy initial reaction was, โWow, it is so compact and it gives you everything that you need โ all the tools that you need โ to help save a life,โโ said Lori Winstead, deputy manager for Wilson County. โWith this system, you kind of avoid that fear of not knowing what step comes next. It puts you at ease, and thatโs important in an emergency situation.โ
At the time, Winstead was working on a spending plan for Wilson Countyโs first tranche of funding from a landmark settlement with the pharmaceutical companies that stoked the national opioid epidemic. Money from the settlement, which brings $7.5 million to the county over the next 18 years, can only be spent on services and strategies that address the crisis.ย
ONEbox fit the bill. In April 2023, the Wilson County Board of Commissioners agreed to buy 200 kits for $40,000. Hillโs coalition received the kits in February and began distributing them to local nonprofits, government agencies and businesses such as Casita Brewing Co. and Thomas Drug Store.ย
He said the demand was โgreater than we expected.โ The coalition ran through its initial supply within three weeks, prompting the county to order another shipment of 200 kits.
โI think it caught on so fast because the community bought into being a resource,โ said Hill, adding that Wilson is the first county to deploy the kits in North Carolina. โOur quote here in Wilson County is โweโre a community of first responders, not a community dependent on them.โโย
Unlike many of the stateโs rural counties, Wilson has seen a decrease in fatal overdoses. The latest available data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services shows that Wilson County had 30 overdose deaths in 2022, down from 37 deaths a year earlier.ย
The use of naloxone rose over the same period. The Wilson Times reported that local paramedics administered naloxone to 105 patients in 2022, a 34 percent increase from the previous year. That number does not include doses administered by other public safety agencies and civilians.ย
Hill said the kits are part of a larger effort to improve community access to lifesaving interventions. He noted that Wilson Countyโs Board of Education approved a policy last May requiring every school in the district to keep a supply of naloxone.ย
โThatโs very rare because most people would view that as, โOh, no, we have a drug problem,โโ he said. โThatโs not what our school system is saying. What theyโre saying is the same way we have an AED and a first aid kit on site, God forbid, in case of emergency, we want to make sure that we have naloxone to protect the sanctity […] and the livelihood of our students.โ
Another example, he said, is Wilson Professional Services, a local medication-assisted addiction treatment center that offers free naloxone to anyone who requests it. The facility also provides training so people know how to properly administer the drug.ย
Naloxone has been readily available for years at community hubs like the Wilson County Public Library, where a staff member used it to save the life of a man who overdosed in 2022.ย
The intersection of Barnes and Goldsboro streets in downtown Wilson. Jeff Hill, executive director of the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition, said the community has been quick to embrace ONEbox.
โWilson has certainly been one of the more comprehensive approaches that we’ve seen,โ said Susan Bissett, president of the institute. โTheyโre using the libraries. They have them in bars and restaurants. They’re working with the schools and the local higher education facilities.โ
Bissett traveled to Wilson County with a film crew last month to record testimonials from local leaders. The recordings, she said, are meant to show other communities how to successfully implement the kits.
โTo see another Appalachian community embrace this has been incredible,โ she said. โThe fact that it is a more rural community โ and how they’re making sure that boxes are in locations strategically placed throughout the community so that bystanders can respond โ is incredible.โ
Her comments were echoed by Joe Murphy, creator of ONEbox. Murphy said he came up with the idea after seeing his small West Virginia hometown โravaged by drugs.โ
โThe way that every single organization we’ve talked to in this community has embraced it, from law enforcement to the public sector, is unbelievable,โ he said. โYou just don’t seeย this anywhere in the country.โ
Kristen Kinney, circulation manager for Wilson County Public Library, gives an on-camera testimonial for a video about ONEbox.
Hill believes Wilson County could be a bellwether for other communities in North Carolina. He said officials from neighboring counties have already expressed interest in deploying ONEbox kits based on the successful rollout in Wilson.
โThe goal is to create a model that can be replicated,โ he said.
