Fountain Hills played host to a forum Thursday morning, Dec. 3, exploring the dangers, impact and potential mitigation against the use of methamphetamine, fentanyl and counterfeit prescription medications on a local level.

The event was organized by the Fountain Hills Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and facilitated by Coalition Board Member and Town of Fountain Hills Council Member Mike Scharnow.

Scharnow explained that the forum was a requirement of a small grant more than 20 coalitions from across the state received. Each coalition will provide reports on the findings of their individual forums, which will be used to help launch statewide efforts and prevention tools, based on the data.

“The coal is to reduce/prevent meth use, along with fentanyl and counterfeit pills,” Scharnow said. “I feel the discussion went well and we heard some good ideas. Most people tend to focus on treatment, so sometimes it’s difficult to bring the conversation back around to prevention.

“It’s always good to hear from different sectors or folks in the community, so I feel our goal, for now, was achieved.”

The local coalition is made up of sector leaders from around the community representing everything from education and religion to law enforcement, local government and beyond. Members of the coalition and those interested from the community took part in the Dec. 3 forum, which was hosted out of council chambers in Town Hall. The event was also broadcast online, for those wishing to attend virtually.

Scharnow said one of his takeaways from the forum was that Fountain Hills is not immune to the issues covered, but he got the impression the community is perhaps not as impacted as other areas of the Valley.

“Through future prevention efforts, we want to minimize and hopefully eliminate any major negative issues/incidents in our local population,” Scharnow said. “[The Coalition’s] major efforts will continue around vaping, alcohol and marijuana use among minors – given Prop 107 – but we will be adding key elements down the road to work on meth, fentanyl and counterfeit pills as well.”

For more information on the Fountain Hills Coalition, visit fhcoalition.org.

Local prevalence

The focus of the forum was to address five questions pertaining to methamphetamine, fentanyl and counterfeit pill use within the community. So, the first question pertained to the perceived use of such substances around Fountain Hills.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Captain Larry Kratzer helped address this question, stating that while issues have arisen in the area, he does not believe it is on the same scale as other Arizona communities. Kratzer suggested Fountain Hills’ lower population and age demographics were possible contributors to that fact.

“That’s not to say there is not an issue here, just that it is not as big as in other areas,” Kratzer added.

Kratzer said he can think of two calls in the past year involving an overdose, but other factors – such as the availability of Narcan – could have an impact on that fact. Narcan, or Naloxone, is a readily-available treatment for narcotic overdoses in an emergency situation and, when used, those instances are seldom reported to the authorities.

According to Kratzer, the use of counterfeit opiates seems to be the bigger issue in the local area, noting that these pills are coming from out-of-country and are frequently laced with fentanyl in unreliable quantities, leading to overdoses.

Driving factors

The second question focused on factors driving drug abuse within the community.

Coalition member and recovering addict, Pam Aguilu, has spent many years offering her talent and input in efforts to combat drug abuse. She said that in all of her experiences, she’s never met a single addict that woke up one day and just decided to start doing drugs.

“Typically, they’re dealing with emotional or family trauma,” Aguilu said. “That’s not an excuse, but a reason.”

Many forum participants agreed that drug abuse typically stems from unaddressed issues within the individual’s life, especially youngsters who have experienced a number of Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, such as neglect, household dysfunction, various forms of abuse, etc. Additional information on ACEs can be found at cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html.

Tim Schlum, Youth Director for Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church, said that the journey to drug addiction and abuse is usually gradual and, if caught early enough, can be prevented.

Schlum said addictions usually start “small” in teens, beginning with alcohol, marijuana and vaping before escalating to pills and the like.

“You see them building up the ladder,” Schlum said. “I don’t see a lot of people jumping straight to meth, it’s usually a gradual build-up.”

Impact

Fort McDowell Education Division Director, Dr. Bill Myhr, spoke first on the perceived impact of drug abuse in the community.

Myhr noted that overdoses are frequently experienced by addicts who were on the road to recovery. Going back to their old habits, the sudden shock to the system makes a recovering addict more likely to overdose from substance abuse.

“Battling this stuff is tough and, in many cases, a daily effort,” Myhr said.

Aguilu agreed, saying “you don’t stop being an addict.” She continued, speaking to the importance of continuing efforts and personal vigilance on the road to recovery.

Aguilu also noted that while organizations such as the Coalition and various programs exist to combat youth substance abuse, one of the major contributing factors to a young addict becoming an older addict is the fact that kids don’t typically want to speak to their parents about their problems (or the underlying issues leading to those problems), and most rehabilitation facilities do not accept patients under the age of 18.

As for adults, it was noted that there has been an uptick in recent years related to domestic violence and DUI instances tied to drug abuse.

“In the grand scheme of things, I don’t see a lot of youth issues here,” said Rural/Metro Fire Chief Dave Ott. “We see more of an adult issue, especially when it comes to combining alcohol and prescription drugs, in terms of overdoses.”

Narcan

When it comes to narcotic overdoses, treatments like Narcan have become more common. Narcan is readily available at pharmacies and can be used to block the effects of opioids in the event of an overdose.

Concerning education about the availability of Narcan and its actual use in overdose situations, Ott explained it’s hard to tell the impact of outreach, as its sale and personal use is not tracked. He said that folks have it and use it, which is good, but there’s no real local data to point to.

Captain Kratzer agreed.

“A lot of the time, they don’t really want to share their info out of fear of prompting an investigation,” he said. “Our deputies all carry Narcan in case it’s needed, and it saves lives…But, in short, it’s hard to quantify its use and success outside of official calls.”

Additional information on Narcan and its uses can be found at narcan.com.

Mitigation

The final question tackled by the forum was potential mitigating factors to combat drug abuse on a local level.

Retired DEA and Coalition Board Member Doug Hebert first pointed to the importance of knowing the source of what is being taken. He pointed to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s “Know Your Source” program as being a good reference, as it works to “protect patients from unsafe drugs.”

Hebert stressed the importance of knowing a prescription pill, for instance, was prescribed by a doctor rather than purchased on the street or online. Many overdoses, Hebert feels, could be avoided simply by ensuring medications are provided by legitimate sources.

Looking ahead, Dr. Myhr said he would like to see additional educational opportunities made available concerning ACEs, as adults understanding the impact they are having on children could help mitigate future issues. Similarly, Schlum said he would like to see more local youths given a “purpose,” something to focus their time and efforts on. His suggestion was a possible coalition of local churches working toward giving youngsters a foundation of faith and ways to more easily become involved, as well as equipping adults with the knowledge to more readily handle the various issues modern youths are dealing with.

“We need to provide safe places for these kids to go, with adults who can discuss and address these issues with the kids,” Schlum said.

The potential to utilize social media to reach the youth was also promoted by Coalition Program Manager Dushawn John. She said it is important to provide data and positive messaging where the youth are more likely to see and potentially share it with their peers.