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What’s a ONEbox? Eastern NC counties roll out opioid epidemic fighting tool

Two eastern North Carolina counties have adopted a new way of addressing the opioid crisis, which comes in the form of small purple boxes called ONEbox.

Two eastern North Carolina counties have adopted a new way of addressing the opioid crisis, which comes in the form of small purple boxes called ONEbox.

ONEbox is an emergency kit that contains doses of naloxone, a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose. The kit walks the user through how to administer the medicine in a crisis.

Wilson County was the first to roll out the ONEbox, and they’ve been placed in 78 locations so far to make them accessible to anyone.

Tiffany Hux said Narcan saved her life.

“I’m glad it did. I am so glad. If not, I wouldn’t be here for my two-year-old child,” Hux said.

Hux has been clean for 10 months after using heroin on and off for five years.

She’s overdosed more than once.

“It can happen everywhere,” she said. “You never know who it will happen to, who it will happen with and where it will happen.”

Jeff Hill, executive director of the Wilson County Substance Coalition, said the ONEbox is all about making naloxone, or Narcan, more accessible.

“We are past the point as a community that we can depend on a handful of people who can save lives. We have to be a community full of people who can save lives,” he said.

The Community Paramedic Program in Edgecombe County is also working to roll out the boxes, installing a ONEbox in Larema Coffee House in downtown Rocky Mount.

Larema Coffee’s owner, Kevin McLaughlin, said he hopes it will help prepare his customers and employees in a crisis.

“Instead of thinking, this would never happen here or to someone we know or see,” he said. “It can happen. It does happen. Every day. It is better to be prepared for than not.”

When the box is opened, users first hear a reminder to calm down.

From there, instructions walk users through how to use the overdose-reversing medicine.

“I can train you as many times as I want, but I do not know how you will react in that moment. If I can give you a tool that can walk you through that process and create that sense of calm, you’ve got a better chance of saving that life,” Hill said.

Even though she is now clean, Tiffany said she will keep the tool around just in case.

“I keep Narcan here. Even if I’m not getting high anymore, I keep it here. Just in case I have a friend who calls me and needs it,” she said.

Wake County school board approves Naloxone policy

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.

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

Chinese money laundering operation deposited cartel money into Charlotte banks, feds say

CHARLOTTE — Feds are charging five Chinese nationals with money laundering after they say the suspects were part of a Chinese money-laundering operation that assisted drug trafficking operations by depositing drug money into Charlotte banks. In March, a grand jury indicted Enhua Fang, Shu Jun Zhen, Jianfei Lu, Maoxuan Xia, and Shao Neng Lin. The federal court documents were unsealed last week.

Seamus Hughes, a founder of the PACER monitoring newsletter Court Watch, first flagged the arrests.

Court documents claim the ringleader was Fang. The court documents claim Fang would receive requests from Mexican drug-trafficking organizations for bulk cash pickups in the United States. They say she would then send couriers to locations throughout the United States to collect the money and deposit it into bank accounts across the country. Once the money was in the bank, federal investigators say the funds would be laundered, including through cryptocurrency accounts. An extensive investigation by the DEA and IRS brought all this to light.

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EdTalks 2024 – Betsy Moore, Richland Creek Elementary School

EdTalks is modeled after the highly-regarded TEDtalks and was created by WakeEd Partnership to provide a public platform for Wake County educators to share their stories, their truths, and their experiences.

The event was held at Jones Auditorium on the campus of Meredith College in Raleigh, NC on March 21, 2024.

Sounding the alarm on fentanyl: Meet-up in Winston-Salem helps provide support to impacted families

Families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl throughout the state have the opportunity to come together in Winston-Salem Saturday, in an effort to seek support and also raise awareness.

America’s Drug Crisis: Is Government Doing Enough?

Join host Tim Constantine on this gripping episode of The Capitol Hill Show as we delve deep into the heart of America’s drug crisis. With opioid overdoses skyrocketing and communities across the nation in turmoil, it’s time to confront the harsh realities head-on.

In this episode, Tim sits down with a diverse panel of guests including Senator James Lankford, a leading voice in the fight against drugs, drug counsellors who are on the ground working the frontlines, and a brave mother – April Babcock, who tragically lost her son to the deadly grip of fentanyl.

Non-profit to offer naloxone to Dreamville attendees


Dreamville Music Festival organizers are ensuring attendees can have a good and safe time on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the festival announced they will have naloxone kits available at the festival.

Dreamville Music Festival organizers are ensuring attendees can have a good and safe time on Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday, the festival announced they will have naloxone kits available at the festival.

Naloxone is a drug that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose. It is sold under the brand name Narcan.

Dreamville is partnering with This Must Be The Place to help distribute the kits. The group is a non-profit that helps distribute kits for various events, ranging from music festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza to awards shows like the Grammy Awards.

“It is our goal to normalize naloxone and other overdose prevention tools in every corner of the country, because only then can we curb the deaths that continue to be caused by this unfortunate epidemic,” The charity said on its website.

William Perry with Be the Place said this is the third year the charity has worked at festivals to provide naloxone.

“We have passed out 50,000 of these kits, that resulted in 100 [out of] 100 overdose reversals,” Perry said.

Perry said while they may work out of festivals, they wanted to emphasize festivals are the best places to get the life-saving drug into the hands of people.

“You are going to have folks from all over coming into the Dreamville Festival [and] we can catch them when they are in one place. Due to a lot of barriers, they haven’t gotten the stuff,” he explained. “You’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

Dreamville isn’t the only place offering or considering having naloxone.

In February, Wake County Public School System leaders said they recommend the drug in every school and a policy to train staff to use it. A month later, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first naloxone over-the-counter nasal spray, which hit shelves in September.

In Edgecombe County, the county jail will have a vending machine for Narcan.

Perry said he hopes the charity and its presence at Dreamville will help destigmatize the need for naloxone and help access the drug, which can be difficult to find.

“This is normalizing the care of others, which has been so impactful,” Perry said.

Perry said the group will distribute the naloxone near one of the entrances of the festival grounds, and graduate students from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill will assist them.

‘We are in the business of saving lives’ | NC leaders seeking solutions to the fentanyl crisis

State and local leaders held a press conference Wednesday to highlight strategies to mitigate the fentanyl epidemic in Mecklenburg County.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, Attorney General Josh Stein and other federal, state, and Charlotte leaders are seeking solutions to the fentanyl crisis.

Sheriff McFadden hosted a press conference Wednesday at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center in order to highlight some of the work done to combat the rise in fentanyl-related deaths.

According to the United States Department of Justice, the number of fentanyl seizures in 2024 represents over 82 million deadly doses.

Around 10 people die in North Carolina every day because of fentanyl, according to Stein. 

During the press conference, leaders discussed efforts by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office to train staff members on administering Narcan. These efforts saved over a dozen lives this past year. 

“People are dying from this drug thinking that they’re taking something simple, but it’s laced with fentanyl,” Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said.

Also, in November of 2023, the Arrest Processing Center lobby received a Narcan vending machine, which is accessible to anyone. Additionally, Sheriff McFadden installed 39 Narcan alarm boxes that were placed in resident pods.

“Should Narcan be in schools? Absolutely. In every classroom? Absolutely. At every nightclub? Absolutely, why? Because we are in the business of saving lives,” Sheriff McFadden said. 

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