GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Library shelves are full of all sorts of stories. Some have you on the edge of your seat, others make you laugh or answer pressing questions.
At the Dream Center in Gastonia, a photo book at the Austin Library is an introduction to a bigger story.
“We left one in the library so that students could see who Austin actually was. He was just like them, and that is what I like them to see,” said Tammy Chowdhury.
Her son Austin Chowdhury was well-loved and well-read.
“I feel like he was searching for answers in the world because he read all kinds of things,” Tammy told Queen City News.
The Austin Library is a tribute to the young man who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at 24.
“It was just a total shock, it didn’t feel real,” Tammy says, taking a breath as she relives that dark day.
Barb Walsh Executive Director of fentvic.org urges Davidson County School Board to install naloxone in ALL schools to save student lives from fentanyl. Race Against Drugs Day of Recovery event in Lexington, North Carolina on August 10, 2024.
Prepare to be deeply moved by “The Breaking Point: A Fentanyl Story,” a poignant documentary created by Martyna Strickland, a gifted multimedia journalist and content creator. While attending the University of Arts London, Martyna, a childhood friend of Alex, crafted this powerful narrative with unmatched passion and integrity. This gripping story delves into the harrowing realities of pain and tragic loss caused by the escalating illicit fentanyl crisis, not just in the United States, but around the globe. Join us in raising awareness and understanding the profound impact of this devastating epidemic. Don’t miss this eye-opening and heart-wrenching tale that everyone needs to see.
Meta Platforms is running ads on Facebook and Instagram that steer users to online marketplaces for illegal drugs, months after The Wall Street Journal first reported that the social-media giant was facing a federal investigation over the practice.
The company has continued to collect revenue from ads that violate its policies, which ban promoting the sale of illicit or recreational drugs. A review by the Journal in July found dozens of ads marketing illegal substances such as cocaine and prescription opioids, including as recently as Friday. A separate analysis over recent months by an industry watchdog group found hundreds of such ads.
Health officials and lawmakers have warned consumers about the opioid-like effects of tianeptine. But stores are technically still allowed to continue the sale of the drug — for now. Gov. Roy Cooper this month signed into law a bill banning the substance known as “gas station heroin.” But the drug is still sitting on shelves around the region.
That’s because North Carolina’s law doesn’t go into effect until Dec. 1. In the meantime, stores are technically still allowed to continue the sale of tianeptine.
Health officials and lawmakers have warned consumers about the opioid-like effects of tianeptine, which, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has been tied to serious health risks and deaths across the country.
In 2020, there were 151 poison control center cases involving tianeptine, according to the FDA. That’s up from just 11 total from 2000 to 2013.
Concern over the drug led to a rare bipartisan effort to ban the product in North Carolina. Lawmakers in June overwhelmingly voted to approve the removal of tianeptine from store shelves. Cooper signed the bill this month, joining at least nine other states — including border states Tennessee and Georgia — that have passed similar bans.
STATESVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — “I’m doing this because my 24-year-old daughter, Sophia, was killed by fentanyl on August 16th. And I didn’t even know how to spell fentanyl,” said Barb Walsh, the executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.
She’s been a voice for families suffering the loss of a loved one by fentanyl poisoning.
“It’s just a network of damaged families who are getting together and finding their power and their passion to heal one another, but also to stop that not from killing someone else,” Walsh said.
The network includes counties like Mecklenburg, Rowan, Iredell, and Catawba. Pictures of those who lost their lives to the poisoning lined the walls at the Bristol Road community center.
Many of their families are doing their best to keep their memories alive.
“Fentanyl took my husband on November 2023, And it has changed our whole daily routine. He was in my house every single day walking around and now he’s not,” said Stephanie Triplett. She started “Embers for Ashes” in response to the death of her husband.
“In 2022, my son T.J. passed away of fentanyl poisoning. He had 18 nanograms of fentanyl in his body, which is enough to kill nine people. He had taken what he thought was oxycodone, but it was a pill that had fentanyl. And he’s been gone since 2022,” said Stephanie Duck. She started “TJ’s Story Lives On”
Through tears, families discussed their losses — but also laid out an action plan to save other victims from death – putting naloxone in every school.
“We just don’t know where a young person might encounter fentanyl. And so the safest thing is to have an antidote within the school, just like an ied, just like an EpiPen, just like a fire extinguisher. It’s not expensive. So we’re advocating for doses per school, not just with school resource officers, but as an emergency first aid kit,” Walsh said.
A new ad promoting North Carolina Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein’s response to the fentanyl crisis will start running during the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
Stein is the Democratic nominee for governor and running against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. In the new television and digital ad airing first on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, a mother talks about her son who died from an accidental fentanyl overdose after taking cocaine laced with fentanyl.
The ad features Debbie Dalton of Cornelius talking about her late son Hunter, who grew up on Lake Norman. Hunter Dalton, 23, graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2016, moved to Raleigh and died that same year. His family and friends started The Hunter Dalton #HDLife Foundation in his memory.
Dalton has spoken at news conferences with Stein in his role as attorney general.
In the ad, Dalton praises Stein for his work on the fentanyl crisis as attorney general and talks about Hunter as “an amazing young man and just loved life. He was my entire world. He made a bad decision that night. If our son had known about fentanyl, he would still be with us today. And it shocked us to our core, shocked our community to the core,” she said.
“Attorney General Josh Stein stood up for families like mine, worked with law enforcement, and worked across party lines to attack the fentanyl crisis. I knew from the minute that I met him that this is a man that is compassionate and concerned and committed,” Dalton said.
Advocates who are fighting to keep fentanyl off the streets say more needs to be done. ABC11 (Raleigh) interviewed Patricia Drewes and Beth Moore for this story.
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — It’s a problem that’s become all too common.
In Durham County alone, the sheriff said last year they seized 3.7 grams of fentanyl from the streets. This year, so far over 300 grams have been removed.
On Saturday the group Fentanyl Victims of North Carolina held its 12th meet-up in Durham.
Natalie Beauchaine proudly shared a photo of her son Jake.
“He was smart he was giving he was loyal if he was your friend he was your loyal friend,” Natalie said.
But behind his smile was also a battle with addiction that ultimately turned tragic.
“It was not an overdose, it was something that he thought was heroin,” Natalie said.
The heroin was laced with a fatal amount of fentanyl. In the midst of her grief, Natalie found community among other members of a club no one wants to be a part of – families of fentanyl victims.
“It doesn’t know race, it doesn’t know color, it doesn’t know socioeconomic background, it affects everybody,” she said.
Around a table, other families shared similar stories, including how many were caught off guard by what has become a silent killer.
“Marijuana can be laced with fentanyl and sometimes fentanyl can even be in water or soda as far as a child is concerned, and you don’t know that it’s there which is really really dangerous,” said Dr. Wanda Boone.
Dangerous also because of how cheap and prevalent it is.
“It is an economic boon to the drug trade,” said Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead.
Birkhead said his office is working to get fentanyl off the streets.
“Once they get it, they can take those 3.7 grams or those 300 grams and just multiply it exponentially,” he said.
One solution they’re fighting for is making sure naloxone is available in every school in the state. They’re also hoping these stories and legacies save lives.
“I just don’t want to see any other families go through this. It’s a horrible grief and it’s just something that nobody else has to go through,” Natalie said.
Wake County approved naloxone in all schools but not every county has them. State Senator Mike Woodard said it would only cost around $350,000 to supply naloxone statewide and he’s hoping to get it into the state budget.
