Phot by Yana Hotter via Grove Atlantic
Ben Westhoff
Ben Westhoff
As the Shepherd reported on International Overdose Awareness Day, the community is well aware of the toll the opioid epidemic is having on families and neighborhoods. Milwaukee County ranks eighth nationally for overdose deaths among large metro areas, with 655 overdose deaths confirmed in the county in 2022, more than twice the number of homicides that same year—245. This is a crisis that hits hundreds of homes each year, if not always the headlines.
So how did the fentanyl crisis happen? And what can we do about it?
Those questions are explored in depth by investigative journalist Ben Westhoff, author of Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Created the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic, a comprehensive, shocking, and essential look at the rise and reach of fentanyl and other novel substances.
Westhoff will keynote Community Advocates Public Policy Institute’s 15th anniversary event on Nov. 2 to explain the roots of the fentanyl epidemic and the strategies Milwaukee leaders and community members can adopt that may help to solve it.
Until a few years ago, Westhoff writes, fentanyl was unknown outside of medical settings. But the use and misuse of opioids created a demand for new drugs that provided the same or more intense effects. Enter fentanyl, which typically is cut into other drugs to make them more potent—fatally so, in too many cases.
Potent and Lethal
Fentanyl isn’t alone. It’s one of the “Novel Psychoactive Substances” (NPS) that are made in a lab to replace a traditional drug—heroin or marijuana, for example—but are much more potent and lethal, especially if the consumer doesn’t know their drug of choice is laced with it. NPS are either illegal or their formulas are modified to stay one step ahead of the law.
“These new drugs—fake heroin, fake marijuana, fake LSD, and fake ecstasy—represent the harshest drug challenge in our history,” writes Westhoff in Fentanyl, Inc. “And yet, ironically, most of them were ‘born’ in legitimate laboratories, created by medical scientists.”
But these very real “synthetic drugs” are only part of the story. Technology and our global economy have enabled these chemicals to be manufactured, sold, and distributed worldwide. Westhoff infiltrated a fentanyl lab in China to see how the process begins, but he also explores the substances created and distributed within the U.S.
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Policy makers can play a role in stopping these lethal substances from getting in the hands of our loved ones and neighbors, as well as fund more prevention, treatment, and recovery resources for individuals and communities.
But community members can play a part, too, by keeping up on the latest trends, threats, and promising practices to save lives. For example, by using Harm Reduction Vending Machines, which provide easy and anonymous access to medication lock pouches, fentanyl test strips, and overdose prevention supplies. Secure drop boxes for unwanted medication are found in most pharmacies. Learning how to use Narcan to prevent overdose is as essential as learning CPR.
The challenge fentanyl and these other new drugs pose may seem insurmountable. But a multifaceted approach is absolutely necessary to confront our current fentanyl-laced reality and prepare for its evolution—and Fentanyl, Inc., can serve as a call to action to end the crisis.
Fentanyl, Inc. author Ben Westhoff will keynote Community Advocates Public Policy Institute’s 15th anniversary celebration on Thursday, Nov. 2, at the Grace Center in Downtown Milwaukee. The event will include a private meet-and-greet with Ben Westhoff, remarks from local leaders, Fentanyl, Inc. book signing, a silent auction, free Narcan and training, and food and mocktails. Tickets are on sale now at ppi.communityadvocates.net.
