By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
There is a lot of symbolism in the overdose prevention campaign being spear-headed by West Carter’s student-led Community Problem Solving (CMPS) group. Their theme for this year’s campaign is “Making Your Time Here Safer” or MYTHS. But it wasn’t enough just to tell people to be safe and avoid drugs. It wasn’t enough to just teach them how to be safe if they do use drugs. The Community Problem Solving Group wanted to give them the tools to be safe.
This meant a plan for distributing Narcan to prevent opioid related overdose deaths in the Olive Hill community. The converted newspaper boxes being used for the project won’t just contain Narcan though. They’ll also contain instructions for using the lifesaving opioid blocker, as well as test strips to check substances for both fentanyl – a potent narcotic which Narcan works to counter – and xylazine, a non-opiate sedative and muscle relaxant which does not respond to the lifesaving drug. Another planned addition is medicine deactivation pouches, so that folks can effectively neutralize and dispose of their unused opioid medications.
The boxes, which will be climate controlled to keep the Narcan from overheating and going bad, will also contain a QR code that links to a website with the location of other MYTHS boxes. This way, West Carter student Nico DeBord explained, if the first box a person tries is out of either Narcan or test strips, folks can see where the next closest box is and visit it.
And the art on these boxes? It follows a graffiti theme, to discourage vandalism, and every box is marked with the image of a phoenix. That fabled bird, which is consumed in fire before being reborn from the ashes, not only fits the MYTHS theme, but represents the second chance that Narcan offers those who have overdosed.
It’s a lot of symbolism.
But what isn’t symbolic is the impact the opioid epidemic and overdose have had on the lives of these students.
“I grew up in a home with an addict,” student Brody McCleese explained. “I saw her basically just deteriorate. So, I was like, if we can prevent this, if we can prevent more harm, let’s do that.”
DeBord said it was a concern echoed by the wider community, inside and outside of the school.
“When asking anyone in our town, we would go up and say, ‘What do you think the biggest problem here is?’ (and) they’d go, ‘Drugs and overdoses.’ Just because it’s so bad around here. So, we asked, ‘What if we put Narcan out?’ Like, how they do the (little lending libraries) around town, and we kind of developed it from that.”
Throughout the process they’ve figured out the logistics of where to place the boxes – securing permission from private property owners and working with city council to secure permission to place some of their boxes on public property. They’ve also brainstormed plans for keeping the Narcan within safe temperature ranges, eventually coming up with an idea to equip the boxes with digital thermometers and solar powered fans to facilitate circulation on warm days, or to pull the opiate blocker if temperatures get too hot.
They’ve also faced some minor pushbacks, from council members and others who have asked questions and expressed concerns about children getting into the Narcan. But DeBord and McCleese say that isn’t an issue they worry about – Narcan isn’t dangerous if it’s administered to someone who hasn’t overdosed, resulting in vomiting at worst – at least not as much as the consequences of overdose.
“I’ve had people in my family die because of it (overdose), and so it’s something that affected me a lot when I was little,” DeBord said. “If I can prevent any child from going through something similar, by just having that readily available and having them know how to use it, in order to do it properly and save a life, that’s really important to me personally.”
“We know people are still going to (use drugs),” McCleese added. “So, if we can save their life, to maybe give them that redemption and be able to solve their problems and get away from drug use and addiction, we just saved lives.”
DeBord added that the overdose prevention method also seemed the more practical route to take.
“There were two ways we could approach it,” DeBord said. “It was preventing overdose and making drug related safety better, or preventing drug use, which we know is going to be incredibly hard to do, and not obtainable at all. So, we felt like we could make more of an impact if we’re doing harm reduction, and helping people to be safer, as opposed to stopping the problem altogether. We won’t have much success in that.”
Helping them to just be safe and survive, though, can give someone another chance to clean up their act for good.
“Coming back to the MYTHS thing, the Phoenix has symbolized rebirth and restart for centuries,” DeBord continued, “and the big thing that we hope to do is – if someone overdoses, they have a chance to still survive with the use of Narcan. And overdosing is very scary, and it can often lead people to get clean. We just want them to be able to have that experience that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Because at least it’s a chance.”
It isn’t just their parents and older relatives either. Despite seeing firsthand the impact on their parents’ and grandparents’ generations, a lot of kids are still willing to experiment.
“It’s even bad in our generation,” DeBord noted. “It surprised me how many kids in the school do hard drugs, and it’s like, if we can help them in any way, that’s all we can want.”
DeBord and McCleese emphasized that this isn’t their project alone, either. They were just the ones with a free period to discuss the project. Other members of the CMPS group include Jordan Richmond, Sawyer Maggard, Skyler Gearhart, Lindsey Stone, and Jadyn Tolliver.
The group’s sponsor, Chris Blankenship, explained that CMPS is an outgrowth of the school’s academic team, and that there is a competition level to the CMPS as well. They will be judged on their project and presentation at the state level, with an opportunity to continue on to higher levels of competition if they place well. It’s also educational on many levels, Blankenship explained, integrating everything from civics and social studies lessons in the students’ interactions with government entities, to the engineering aspect of establishing climate control in the boxes, and the technology aspect of building and maintaining a website to show the locations of other nearby boxes.
“They have gone through the process of dealing with local government, with regulations in the medicine, distribution, and health and human services,” Blankenship said. “They’ve gone through and had to figure out problem solving, as far as what they actually needed, what they’re allowed to put out, what is shelf stable, the temperature constraints, and the actual container of things. It evolved quite a bit.”
But more important than the competition, for the students, is the outcome. This isn’t just another academic exercise for them. They want to save lives. Because, as DeBord and McCleese pointed out, every dose of Narcan represents a life saved, and another chance to rise from the ashes of your old life and pursue a better tomorrow.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
