Personally, I have never had anyone in my family that has OD-ed from fentanyl or uses fentanyl. I myself am a recovering addict. I am 11 years sober, and I was addicted to pain pills – opioids. I remember my last time pretty much using, I tried heroin for the first time, and then it was heroin – they didn’t have fentanyl in it then. … I did use fentanyl once, and I was in jail when I used it.

I’d really like to tell them to get help. The job that I do now is I help people go to treatment. I help people find the help that they need, be it inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, the MAT program, so I help them to get it. … My coworker always says, “Treatment is not the magic wand, it’s not the magic pill or anything, but it will help.” It will give them that time to be sober, to get their mind clear, and then follow through. That’s a big thing after you get out of treatment is to follow through with what your counselors… pretty much what they tell you to do is go to counseling, go to meetings – meetings are a big thing. Use your spirituality – that’s a big one. For me, that’s what helped me stay sober, that’s what’s helping me stay sober and clean, and I can’t stress it enough. Find that higher power. That will help you.