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GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Awareness is the first step toward combating the threat of fentanyl: That was the message from Oneida Nation leaders Thursday.
The tribe launched an effort called the Fentanyl is Everywhere Campaign at a morning news conference.
Chairman Tehassi Hill, assistant police chief Joel Maxam, Oneida Behavioral Health director Mari Kriescher, and recovery coach Patrick Danforth spoke at the event. They urged community members to learn more about fentanyl.
“It’s a miracle that I’m even here, the fact that you’re looking at me right now is a miracle,” says Patrick Danforth. For him, the Oneida Nation’s new campaign is personal.
“There are so many times where I’ve consumed massive quantities of substances that just by the sheer odds of it, I’ve already cheated death many times,” Danforth says.
He has spent years working on his recovery, and he’s now helping others on their journey as a recovery coach at Oneida Behavioral Health.
His job now is as important as ever, as all communities – including the Oneida Nation – continue to fall victim to fentanyl overdoses.
“We started initially seeing the fentanyl in the patch form, and then you started getting it added into more illicit drugs like heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, and things of that nature,” says Maxam, who has been with the Oneida Nation Police Department for at least 20 years, said. “What we’re seeing now is that it’s in prescription pill form, marijuana, it’s in edibles. It’s in everything, which makes it that much more dangerous.”
“We are losing our family members, we are losing our friends, and we are losing our neighbors, it’s time to act at this time. It’s time to take accountability and reinvest in our community,” he adds.
Along with urging education around fentanyl, the new campaign pushes to make their own resources, and other local drug abuse resources in the area known.
“We need your help to end this emergency and awareness is the first step,” says Hill. “Please don’t wait for a tragedy to occur to ask ‘what can we do?”
But perhaps the best thing they say you can do, as the drug continues to overpower communities? Carrying Narcan or drug test strips with you.
“Harm reduction is something that can be viewed a number of different ways, some people choose to see it as enabling or ineffective or as even being part of the problem,” says Danforth. “However, every time you get in your car, a bell goes off reminding you to put your seatbelt on, that’s a form of harm reduction. We practice harm reduction every day and we don’t even realize it. So just think of it as a way to save somebody’s life who might not otherwise have the ability to save their own life.”
The Fentanyl is Everywhere Campaign includes social media posts, yard signs, window clings and the handing out of business cards to raise awareness. Community members are also urged to learn about resources available locally, including the anti-overdose drug Narcan and addiction recovery services.
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