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Date: 12/21/2022
WESTFIELD – Recent assemblies at the Westfield High School (WHS) and Westfield Technical Academy (WTA), and one aimed at the community at large, gave emergency providers an opportunity to express their concerns about the availability of deadly counterfeit medications that are laced with fentanyl, and talk about the real-life consequences that they encounter every day.
The events were organized by WTA adjustment and substance abuse counselors Kristine Hupfer at WTA and Carrie Ann Fiordalice at WHS, and Community Resource Officer Lt. Eric Hall, in coordination with the Hampden County district attorney’s office and the Hampden County Drug Task Force.
At the community meeting on Dec. 13 at WTA, Hall said that during the height of the Ccoronavirus pandemic, attention was turned elsewhere and fatal overdoses have increased.
”In the beginning of 2020, January through March, there were 4,300 COVID[-19] deaths and we stopped everything,” Hall said. “During the same time period, 23,000 died of opioid overdoses.”
Hall said in 2021, there were 107,000 overdoses nationally, amounting to 300 per day.
District Attorney Anthony Gulluni spoke about the Hampden County Drug Task Force and its Youth Advisory Board, high school students who help the district attorney’s office understand and address issues facing the youth today, specifically the accessibility of drugs online.
“This problem exists here in Westfield, in the county, the commonwealth and across the country. What we do is bring together people who know best,” Gulluni said.
He said Xanax and Adderall bought online or without a prescription now probably contain fentanyl, which he called “extraordinarily” powerful: “The first time taking fentanyl can be an overdose, fatal or otherwise. We’re attacking the problem by getting the stuff off our streets, and talking to people like you.”
Gulluni said their goal is to prevent people from putting that pill in their mouth.
“Addiction is somewhat preventable through education,” he said.
Members of the Youth Advisory Board took turns speaking about what they are seeing among their peers, and said drugs are easy to purchase online, and even vapes purchased online may contain fentanyl. A student may seek Adderall to help with studies, but what they get is not what it’s advertised to be.
The students said Snapchat is used most commonly to purchase drugs, and Venmo and Cash App are used to pay for them. Snapchat is used because it can be posted as a private story, it is only up for 24 hours, and one can select who sees it.
Drug sales are made online, communicating through emojis. For example, a plug can indicate a dealer, a snowflake, cocaine; and a fire symbol for oxycodone. The Drug Enforcement Agency has produced a poster of the emojis being used, available online at bit.ly/wn12eu or by searching for “Emoji Drug Code Decoded” at www.dea.gov.
According to one member of the Youth Advisory Board, 84 percent of Generation Z is coping with stress, which is the most common reason for prescription drug abuse. The students encouraged adults and young people to get to know their school counselors.
Also speaking at the community meeting were Dr. Sundeep Shukla, physician and chief of staff in the Emergency Room at Baystate Health and Baystate Noble Hospital; Westfield Detective Sgt. Brian Freeman; Westfield Fire Department Deputy Chief Patrick Kane; Firefighter-Paramedic Ben Hogan; and Kathy Cotugno from DART (Drug Addiction Recovery Team) in Easthampton, which also covers Westfield.
“This is a really important topic. I see it every day in the emergency room,” said Shukla. He said fentanyl is a man-made opiate for pain control and sedation that is 100 times more powerful than morphine, with a veterinary form that is 1,000 times more powerful.
Opioids slow down the user’s perception of events, and can cause dizziness, constipation and stop breathing.
“We may be hearing a lot more about overdoses due to fentanyl. Less people are trying [fentanyl], but more people are dying from it because it is laced in other drugs. Counterfeit medications are truly impacting us. People are mass-producing counterfeit pills, which are all over social media,” Shukla said.
He said it is “really tough” to get a prescription at Baystate for narcotics, and there are more and more counterfeits. He and many other doctors now use a fingerprint on prescriptions to prevent forgeries.
Two days before the conference, an overdose victim was brought into the emergency room from the street. Shukla said he had a heart-to-heart with him, and successfully gave him Narcan to reverse the overdose. Narcan, which is available to the public, inhibits the impact of overdoses. Shukla then started the patient on an outpatient suboxone treatment.
“If you’re worried about someone, give them Narcan and then bring them to the emergency room, because Narcan wears off,” he said, adding, “Everyone in this room can do their part to save someone’s life.”
Ending overdoses
The physician said one strategy to prevent overdoses is not to allow narcotics in the house. Patients should use a lockbox for prescriptions, and not share medications. Unused medications, rather than being kept at home where they can be abused, can be dropped off at the emergency room.
“If you see risky behavior, have each other’s backs. I have your back,” Shukla said.
Freeman said the day before the community meeting, he had taken fake oxycodone off of someone involved in a car accident. He had also recently been alerted to a counterfeit pill press operating in Westfield. The FBI caught on, and the operation picked up and moved.
Freeman said he knows in the city that family members and friends may be reluctant to call the police.
“Part of our response now, if we get called to a drug overdose, there are no charges brought against anybody,” he said, adding, “This wasn’t the case six or seven years ago.”
“The best thing to do if you suspect a problem is to act aggressively and go all the way. Whatever treatment is available, seek it out right away,” Freeman said, adding that the first rehab might not work.
Kane said he responds to emergency calls after an overdose.
“A lot of times, we can do something, and a lot of times, we can’t,” he said. He still remembers 15 years ago putting a sheet over someone’s head while staring at his three-year-old daughter. “Another time, it was someone I knew and grew up with. I still remember the screams of the parents,” Kane said.
Hogan also still remembers showing up to overdoses that happened 10 years ago.
“Yesterday, I was a paramedic on the scene for an overdose on two Percocet. Narcan reversed it in 30 seconds. It’s almost like reviving someone from death,” he said, adding, “Usually, you have a short window to get Narcan in before you become brain-dead.”
Focus on prevention
Hogan said in the past, overdose victims were dismissed as, “it’s just another junkie.” Now he has seen addicts with Ph.D.s, successful people who have taken a bad turn, and 16-year-old high school students.
Kathi Cotugno of the Drug Addiction Recovery Team said her organization supports people at risk and family members who are affected by offering harm reduction tools and connecting them to community resources for short and long term recovery.
She said Narcan and training is available for free from DART by calling the Easthampon Police Department, and is also available at Tapestry, which has an office at 17 E. Silver St., Westfield. She said when a person overdoses in Westfield, the police report to DART, which contacts the individuals within 24 to 48 hours and offers them services and gives them Narcan.
“One of the first steps a family member can take is having Narcan on hand,” Cotugno said. She also stressed the importance of openly talking about drug use – something her family did not do, she said, to disastrous results. Cotugno has openly spoken in the past of losing her son to an overdose.
Hall said the Westfield Police Department has a focus on prevention.
“Eight years ago, we talked about how addictive opioids were. That was before fentanyl; now it can kill you,” he said.
He said while helping to organize for the community workshop and the high school assemblies, “the minute I called Baystate Noble, they said, yes, we’re in. They all said yes.”
“In the Police Department, we want to try and make a difference. We need to stop it before it starts,” Hall said, adding, “Kids need a change. They need to know how to handle mental health.”
After the meeting, Hupfer said she thought the event went well.
“The presenters were amazing, and provided incredible information. It is shocking to hear how pervasive this is becoming with the counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl. I am so grateful for everyone that presented and the providers that attended and shared their resources. They shared a wealth of knowledge and invaluable information with us,” Hupfer said.
She said while there are no formal plans yet for follow-up programs, discussions have started on ideas of how to keep up the momentum, and to keep people informed.
Correction: This article was edited Dec. 22, 2022, to clarify details of Dr. Shukla's treatment of an overdose victim.