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[[The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says America’s leading cause of overdose deaths is synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, which can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin. U.S. law enforcement says illicit fentanyl is cheaply made from chemicals mostly coming from China, trafficked through Mexico, and then smuggled into the United States. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya looks at fentanyl in Washington state in a series that today explores how stigmas about fentanyl abuse complicate treatment for addicts.]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptKILLER FENTANYL: STIGMA (Part 4 of 5)
HEADLINE: Social Stigma of Fentanyl Abuse Complicates Treatment
TEASER: Some addicts say they feel isolated and ashamed as they struggle
PUBLISHED AT: 05/07/2023 at 5:45 pm
BYLINE: Natasha Mozgovaya
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Tacoma, Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Natasha Mozgovaya
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Mia Bush, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:33
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: This is the fourth of a five-part series on fentanyl to rest in HFR ahead of combined release.))
((INTRO))
[[The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says America’s leading cause of overdose deaths is synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, which can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin. U.S. law enforcement says illicit fentanyl is cheaply made from chemicals mostly coming from China, trafficked through Mexico, and then smuggled into the United States. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya looks at fentanyl in Washington state in a series that today explores how stigmas about fentanyl abuse complicate treatment for addicts.]]
((NARRATOR))
Lupe Hurtado learned about the social isolation of drug addiction when it drove her to homelessness.
((Lupe Hurtado, Tacoma Needle Exchange))
“There's a lot of stigma. People tell us, ‘Oh get a job!’ or yell things at us, throw things at us. A common thing is people driving around the encampments just laying on their horn.”
((NARRATOR))
Hurtado now works as a peer counselor with a local addiction assistance group. She says the social dislocation and shame fentanyl addicts sometimes feel make them less likely to seek treatment.
((Lupe Hurtado, Tacoma Needle Exchange))
“Stigma in some ways equals death for some people who overdose, especially with fentanyl.”
((NARRATOR))
Fentanyl addicts, especially those who are homeless, can be difficult for a community to embrace. Photographer Melissa Wax recalls addicts living in a park across the street from her home.
((Melissa Wax, Photographer))
“People were dying in the park. I saw people being dragged out in body bags, and just fires and explosions and drug abuse and fights. And as a parent with two kids that walk to school right through here, too, it was, like, terrifying.”
((NARRATOR))
Public health adviser Brad Finegood says breaking stigmas around fentanyl addiction is critical to treatment, especially considering that trauma often contributes to drug abuse.
((Brad Finegood, Seattle & King County Public Health))
“If what we're doing retraumatizes people, causes people more pain, then we're going to be in this cycle of not being able to heal as a community and not being able to work with the people who are struggling to heal.”
((NARRATOR))
Community health worker Douglas DeJoe is a former addict. He says the opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but reconnecting.
((Douglas DeJoe, Tacoma Needle Exchange))
“Nobody succeeds in anything without a human connection. So these people at a bare minimum deserve a human connection.”
((NARRATOR))
The fatal impact of not getting treatment for fentanyl addiction can be seen on a wall at the Tacoma Needle Exchange, where pictures and mementos remember those lost to overdose.
((Stephanie Prohaska, Tacoma Needle Exchange))
We don't know how long the fentanyl is going to be around. We don't know what the next drug is going to be, and we don't know what the next drug after that is going to be. Things come in waves, and they affect people differently.
((NARRATOR))
The demand for clean needles was replaced by growing demand for opioid reversal kits. Working to reduce fentanyl overdoses, the Needle Exchange program is installing Naloxone boxes next to first aid kits in Tacoma public institutions.
((Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News, Tacoma, Washington))
((OUTRO: ))
[[In part five of Killer Fentanyl, VOA looks at how some addicts quit the opioid.]]
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Tacoma, Washington
Embargo DateMay 7, 2023 19:04 EDT
Byline
Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
