In 2018, almost 70,000 Americans died from a drug overdose, and among those two thirds were associated with opioids. This is higher than deaths from HIV, car crashes and gun violence at their highest levels. Recently, U.S. life expectancy dropped for the third year in a row, which represents the longest sustained decline in expected lifespan since 1915-1918, a time when World War I and the influenza pandemic claimed many lives. The primary cause — illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in the drug supply.  Synthetic opioids are found in most overdose deaths Today’s drug supply is heavily tainted, and frequently contains illicit fentanyl (a synthetic, short acting opioid), a drug 50-100 times more potent than morphine. The potency leaves little room for error and makes overdose risk high. Fentanyl and its analogs claimed over 30,000 lives in 2018 (40% of all overdose deaths). In Philadelphia, illicit fentanyl was found in over 85% of overdose deaths in 2018. The reality is that we are dealing with an ongoing fentanyl crisis that supply side strategies can’t fix. What we can do is use smarter approaches to reduce harm and save lives.

“Experience is of supreme value” - Henry Ford As my disease of addiction progressed and moved through my life like a tornado twisting and turning and eventually separating me from society. I became isolated, hopeless and had sacrificed everything that was once precious to me it took away my job, my marriage, home and the loving relationships with my family. I was disconnected from the world as I once knew it and was in full flight of reality. The fact that I’m alive today is nothing short of a miracle.