 Hi, everyone. I'm Ed Baker. I am your host producer on the addiction recovery channel I want to thank town meeting TV for opening the studio for me today, and I want to thank Town meeting TV more so for opening their hearts to people who use drugs We in Vermont are facing a situation today that couldn't be more urgent. It is an emergency. I'd like to show you a few slides that illustrate exactly what I'm talking about This first slide illustrates overdose deaths in Vermont from 2010 to 2021. In 2010, tragically, we lost just under 50 loving ones, loved ones, neighbors, Vermonters. In 2021, we lost over 210 Vermonters, our neighbors. The number of deaths over that 11 year period from 2010 to 2021 quadrupled. It cannot get any more urgent than this. This is another way to look at it. If you look at that orange graph line, that's fentanyl. Fentanyl is the most lethal opioid known to the pharmaceutical industry. Fentanyl is measured in MCG micrograms, millions of a gram, rather than milligrams, which is a thousandth of a gram, which is what other opioids are measured in. It is the most lethal opioid known to the pharmaceutical industry. It is contaminating the entire unregulated drug supply in America and in Vermont. It's contaminating opioids, it's contaminating cocaine, it's contaminating methamphetamine, and it is also contaminating counterfeit oxycodone and counterfeit benzodiazepines. This is an alert from the Drug Enforcement Administration two days ago, April 6th. The DEA is warning of increased mass overdose events. In all 50 states, I'm just going to read you a couple of examples. On February 20th, 2022, six individuals overdosed, five of whom died in the same apartment after ingesting a substance that they believed was pure cocaine, but was in fact pure fentanyl. I have lots of examples, I'll just read you one more. On March 3rd, 2022, three individuals overdosed and died in a hotel room after ingesting what they believed were 30 milligram oxycodone pills, which were in fact fake prescription pills containing fentanyl. We are up against a public health emergency. This is an example, this is a photograph of a counterfeit 30 milligram oxycodone. It looks exactly like a legitimately manufactured pharmaceutical oxycodone. You cannot tell the difference. A person using drugs may purchase one of these, thinking they're taking 30 milligrams of oxycodone, and in fact they may be taking a lethal dose of fentanyl. A first-time user experimenting with a drug, maybe they heard it's a fun thing to do, could die. We are facing a crisis that is unprecedented in our country. This is one other example. This is Xanax alprazolam. This is a benzodiazepine. It looks exactly like a pharmaceutical produced benzodiazepine. The problem again is that in that pill, there's not a benzodiazepine. There is an undetermined amount of fentanyl. This is a slide from a site that the DEA has up. It's a one pill can kill. So if you go to that site, it's very educational. But this slide depicts what's going on. Scientific research, chemical research on these pills has shown that four of 10 counterfeit pills contain an amount of fentanyl that could very likely be a fatal dose. This is the extent to which this is a problem in America. In 2018, this is seizures. These are seizures that have occurred. So drugs that have been interdicted and seized. In 2018, there were just under 300,000 counterfeit pills seized. In 2021, there were just under 10 million pills seized. So this shows the velocity of the influx of deadly chemicals into our cultures, into our communities. We need to face this with the urgency that it calls for. Now, I want to take this opportunity. I want to say that I'm about to put on some resources for help. But I want you to understand, if you're a person out there who's using drugs, if you're a person out there who knows someone who's using drugs, we are not coming at you. We're not coming at you from a judgmental place. We have no expectations of you. There are no requirements of you. I'm not being preachy. I'm not lecturing you. I'm coming to you. I'm coming to you from a place of love, from a place of concern. We just want to keep you alive. That's the whole point of this. We want to keep you alive. You know, you're precious. You're beautiful. You're fine. Just the way you are. We want to keep you alive. Okay? So I'm going to put up some help resources now that can help you to stay alive. The first one, and I would never, I would never recommend a place that I don't absolutely have confidence in. Today I called up Vermont HelpLink and I asked them some questions. I didn't tell them who I was. I just asked them some questions. I was paid attention to. The person was patient with me. The person asked me questions about what kind of help I wanted. She was thorough in giving me all the resources I wanted. I never felt once that I wasn't important. So I'm recommending the Vermont HelpLink 802-565-LINK. If you need help with anything that has to do with getting fentanyl, test strips, getting Narcan for overdose reversal, obtaining wound kits for dealing with wounds that you may have from injecting drugs, any of these things, you call up Vermont HelpLink and they will direct you to the right people. Vermont CARES. I know the team at Vermont CARES personally. They have offices all over Vermont. St. J., St. Albans, Barry Rutland, and they have a mobile service. The same thing. Non-judgmental. These people care about you. They're not going to preach to you. They're not going to expect anything of you. If you need Narcan, if you need fentanyl test strips, if you need wound kits, you need safe syringes, they are there for you. Of course, if you want additional help, they'll help you to get it, but it is not a requirement. There are no requirements. Howard Center Safe Recovery right here in Chindenburg County. Close friends of mine work there. I would, if my kids needed help, I would send them there. I would go there myself. I would trust them. Again, Narcan, fentanyl test strips, wound kits, safe syringes, and if you want other types of help and you ask them, they'll be more than happy to meet you where you are, to meet you where you are. That's the important thing. This last one is the vtrecoverynetwork.org. That's the Vermont Recovery Network. If you go to that site, you will be able to find locations all over the state where there are facilities where there's no charge. It's mostly peer-run recovery coaching. They will help you to find the resources you need. Let me just go back. If you have a cell phone and you want to get a shot of that, take a picture of that, keep that with you. If you want to take a picture of this, Howard Center and Vermont Recovery Network.org. My email is not on here, but I'll give it to you. It's A-R-C-E-D-B-A-K-E-R. ArcEd Baker at gmail.com. I would offer you my resources too. I'll close now. I just want to reiterate that you are precious. You are important. We want to keep you alive. It is dangerous out there. The drugs on the street today and the unregulated drug supply are lethal. They are lethal and we are warning you. Please, please be careful. Thank you.