The Cost of Fentanyl:
Three Lives Lost in One Night in Oklahoma Home
It was the morning of March 26, 2016. In a quiet neighborhood of large, new houses in Oklahoma City, a man got ready to go to work as usual. What wasn’t usual was that none of the other family members in the house showed up at their usual hours. Finally, he went from room to room, trying to wake up his relatives. When he couldn’t rouse any of them, he called 911 and asked for help.
Police and firefighters found that two of his three relatives were dead. A third passed away after being taken to the hospital. Initially, it was thought that a gas fireplace that had been on all night might have caused their deaths. But firefighters who responded got no unusual carbon monoxide readings.
Lost to this family were two sisters and a nephew – 65-year-old Susan Hadley, 63-year-old Christie Schlund and 43-year-old Jeffrey Vaughn.
It took five months for the mystery to be fully resolved. When all the toxicology reports were released by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office, it turned out that all three died from Fentanyl toxicity. Jeffrey Vaughn also had oxycodone in his body.
What is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller. It’s so powerful that its distribution is severely restricted to extremely painful conditions or hospital use. Cancer patients may get slow-dissolving lozenges and those suffering from extreme and continuous pain may apply Fentanyl patches. Both methods of distribution are designed to prevent the possibility of overdose.
Using morphine as a standard of painkiller potency, Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger. The typical dosage of pure Fentanyl would be about the same size as two grains of salt. It’s ten to twenty times stronger than pure heroin which explains why its use can easily be fatal.
In the U.S. and other countries, Fentanyl is being found mixed into heroin supplies to give the heroin a more potent kick. Many people who died from Fentanyl overdoses didn’t even know they were injecting this drug.
Some victims purchased pills that looked like prescription painkillers but were in fact counterfeit drugs that contained only Fentanyl, like those shown in the image below.
Illicit Labs Overseas
The problem is that Fentanyl is not all that hard to manufacture. Several years ago, a couple of illicit labs in Mexico began to manufacture this drug and it started being added to heroin supplies in the U.S. More than 1,000 Americans died in a short time period. The labs were shut down and the deaths stopped.
In the last couple of years, it’s been illicit labs in countries like China and Pakistan manufacturing the drug. As the drug makes its way into this country, more people are dying, like these three Oklahomans. Even though law enforcement agencies know the drug is coming into the country, it’s much harder to shut down the sources.
As of May 2016, 47 Oklahomans have been lost to this drug. Hundreds more have been lost in the Northeast, Midwest and South plus California and Canada.
The Only Safety
At this time, it is more true than ever before: the only safety is in sobriety. Families with a loved one struggling with addiction can find help at Narconon Arrowhead in Canadian, Oklahoma. Here, a person in recovery is surrounded by supportive staff day and night. Here, a person who hopes for future sobriety has the chance to complete a 100% drug-free rehabilitation program.
It’s not true that a person must reach rock bottom before they go to rehab. It’s not even true that they must ask for and be ready for help. If you need to help a loved one suffering from addiction to painkillers, illicit opiates or any drug, call us. We work with some of the best interventionists anywhere who can help your loved one make the decision to arrive today, before an overdose ends their chances of recovery.
Call Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 and let us help you or a loved one start on the road to health and enjoyment of life once again.
