[0:00] All [0:14] right, guys. [0:15] >> All right, guys. [0:18] >> So, softball is uh people in recovery. [0:23] >> It's safe haven for people to come on a [0:24] Friday night. [0:27] He was very excited about playing. You [0:30] know, he would call me all the time, I'm [0:31] going to go play softball and and run [0:34] that. I [0:35] >> think still to this day, he's probably [0:36] the best player we've had on the team. [0:39] He's still awesome [0:40] >> the the lifelong MVP, the of the [0:44] Rippers, and got to start that with us. [0:47] And [0:51] >> okay, this is Chance. He played little [0:53] league for years. I never missed a [0:56] practice or a game. Um, I would go to [0:59] like all of them. Probably could have [1:01] gotten a scholarship and went on to [1:03] college, maybe even went pro. [1:08] He was a very goofy child like from the [1:13] beginning. He would light up a room and [1:16] his laugh, he had a contagious laugh. [1:19] The first time he smoked weed, he was [1:20] 10. 15 is when he got into like [music] [1:23] the meth and the oxies and [1:28] I think there was a little bit of heroin [1:29] in there. [1:31] He was about [1:34] 19. He called me and he told me that he [1:36] was using fentanyl. It was the worst [1:40] nightmare that you could ever imagine [1:42] coming true. [1:51] The number one thing killing people [1:53] accidentally, yet it is rarely heard [1:55] about. [1:59] One person dies every 7 minutes from an [2:01] overdose. Just from the time we started [2:03] this interview, one person has died. [2:07] There is an opioid crisis in Anoka [2:09] County. [2:14] two years ago, you didn't even talk [2:16] about overdose in this county is [music] [2:17] this idea of not my backyard. That's not [2:19] going to happen to my kid. That's not [2:22] something that happens here when all the [2:24] data suggested otherwise. [2:26] I think that there's always hope. We [2:28] have the people, we have the tools, we [2:30] have the things now where people don't [2:31] [music] have to die from this. We can [2:33] engage people in a way and get them the [2:35] resources and the tools they need to [2:36] live. And it's the reason why people get [2:38] well. It's because they believe [music] [2:40] that somehow someway they can find that [2:43] thing that's going to heal them. And I [2:45] think that's [music] all you need is [2:46] hope. [2:57] 642 Heights University [3:01] for one down. [3:11] The big one is fentanyl. [3:14] A lot of other street drugs are getting [3:15] cut with fentanyl. [3:18] >> So, it was kind of like a combination of [3:20] the two were causing the overdoses. [3:22] >> I've had shifts where I was taking five [3:24] or six overdoses or suspected overdoses [3:27] on one shift. [3:29] I don't know if we could ever verbalize [3:32] adequately [3:34] how dangerous things are or how bad [3:38] things [music] can get quickly. [3:39] >> I think the issue with opiates and it [3:42] really only does take one time. [3:49] first phase of the opioid epidemic was [3:51] primarily an epidemic of prescription [3:54] opioid use and that happened between [3:57] about 20002 2010 [4:00] when the number of uh prescription [4:02] opioids quadrupled. In many cases, [4:04] prescription opioids are still the [4:06] gateway drug uh for opioid use disorder. [4:15] I've worked in downtown Anoka and lived [4:17] in Anoka County my entire adult life. [4:20] In 1998, I was on my way to work one [4:24] morning and a person ran a red light and [4:28] hit me and I cracked the windshield with [4:30] my head and [music] sustained a couple [4:32] herniated discs in my low back. I was [4:34] prescribed Tylenol with coding which was [4:37] not a big [music] deal until it was. [4:42] I got pregnant with twins in 2007 [4:46] and I went into pre-term [music] labor [4:49] uh at 22 and a half weeks. I gave birth [4:52] to my uh twins and they died a few hours [4:55] later [music] [4:57] and uh after that I started using the [4:59] narcotics to deal with my [music] grief. [5:03] I am a parallegal. I'm also a musician. [5:06] I play poker music. [music] I believe in [5:09] God. I go to church. I try to do good [5:11] things. I didn't ask for this to happen [5:14] to me. [5:20] >> So, opioid prescribing started [5:22] tightening up. Availability became less. [5:25] The cost became more. Now, heroin is [5:28] more available and it's cheaper. And so, [5:30] we entered our second phase of the [5:33] opioid epidemic, which really focused on [5:36] heroin. We're now in the third phase of [5:38] the opioid epidemic which again is more [5:40] dependent on fentanyl and synthetic [5:43] opioids. [5:47] >> Uh this home here we live grew up on the [5:49] lake and so uh I did a lot of fishing, a [5:52] lot of hunting and then uh you know [5:54] played hockey during high school. It [5:57] wasn't ever a thought or or even you [6:00] know in my mind of someday I'm going to [6:02] be addicted to fentanyl. [6:07] When I got into boxing, I took first in [6:09] the state, [music] you know, three years [6:10] in a row. And uh, you know, I I started [6:14] training at a pretty at a national [6:15] level. There was one night where uh we [6:18] were doing [music] some weird stuff like [6:20] grappling in the garage and I had like [6:23] twisted around and landed upside down on [6:25] my shoulder on the like the concrete. [6:27] Basically, I had separated the cartilage [6:29] and like the nerves, you know, the the [6:32] nerves that connect your shoulder. [6:35] So, I got prescribed Vicodin. There was, [6:37] you know, uh that time [music] where I [6:40] was, you know, I took a few extra and I [6:42] felt the first opiate high I ever had. [6:47] It It feels like an emotional warm [6:49] blanket, [music] like you're being [6:51] covered in just like a euphoria of like, [6:54] you [music] know, it it's like a [6:55] dopamine flush. It was like, "Oh, I [6:57] found the answer." You know, like I I [6:59] thought I figured it out. Like, [music] [7:01] this is I've got this now. Like, as long [7:04] as I have this, I'll feel fine. [7:06] Eventually, my doctor cut me off from [7:08] those meds [music] and I had to find, [7:11] you know, a new way to to get a hug, to [7:14] feel happy again. [7:17] I would go to the streets to get the [7:20] medication I needed. And so [music] I [7:22] had um full access to the Oxycottton [7:26] when they first came out. And this is [7:28] where my addiction [7:30] uh escalated. [music] [7:32] >> We've known how to treat chronic pain [7:35] the right way for close to 50 years. [7:37] [music] And we were treating it the [7:39] right way with sort of interdisciplinary [7:43] or multidisciplinary pain care. But [7:47] management in this way can be very [7:49] expensive. [music] And just then what it [7:52] who entered the picture were the [7:54] pharmaceutical companies who said you [7:57] know what we can provide you with [8:00] opioids that treat chronic pain very [8:02] well and it's easy and uh and your [8:06] patients deserve it. [8:09] A doctor [music] would prescribe me 30 a [8:12] month, 60 a month, 120 a month. My [8:15] refills kept coming [music] sooner and [8:17] sooner, all from the same doctor. [8:22] It was a cycle. [8:24] I couldn't seem to stop. The pills [8:28] became more important [music] than [8:30] anything else in my life. [8:33] So, my rock bottom was on June 22nd, [8:36] [music] [8:36] 2016. [8:38] I broke into a friend's house looking [8:41] for pills. I [music] didn't think I [8:43] would make it through the night without [8:45] pills. I thought I would die. [8:48] Several months after that, I was [8:50] arrested. [music] I was charged uh with [8:53] seconddegree burglary. [8:56] I uh plead guilty to a felony. Uh when I [9:00] was arrested, [9:02] the police [music] made a comment that I [9:04] wasn't what they expected for a [9:06] secondderee burglar. It can happen to [9:09] anyone. [9:11] Addiction [music] does not discriminate. [9:16] >> When you take [music] opioids for a long [9:18] period of time and at high doses, your [9:21] body has become dependent on it that you [9:25] will need higher and higher doses to [9:28] give you the same uh result. [9:31] >> I started uh learning how to snort [9:34] Oxycottton, but then pretty soon, you [9:36] know, that's that [music] was my go-to [9:38] was heroin. And you know, I was snorting [9:41] heroin. Eventually, I became so toxic [9:44] that [music] I was stealing. You know, I [9:46] was, you know, trying to make money [9:47] however I could. The worst day of my [9:50] life, I took my daughter out to a a [9:53] restaurant with me on on my person. I [9:56] had drugs with me and I was actively [9:58] using. And I went into the bathroom and [10:01] I overdosed. [10:03] And [music] my my own daughter had to [10:05] witness that. I woke up on my back [10:07] surrounded by paramedics and you know [10:10] police [music] and my first thought was [10:14] oh my god what have I done? [10:17] What have I done? [10:29] For people that don't know fentanyl is [10:31] 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin. [10:33] And then they have another type of [10:35] fentanyl called carfentanyl [music] [10:36] that's 100 times stronger than fentanyl. [10:42] >> Chance said that [music] fentanyl would [10:44] call his name all the time. It was like [10:45] a demon in his head. He would try and [10:48] quit, you know, he would want to quit [10:50] and he just couldn't. Yeah. He um it [10:54] took over his entire life. [music] So he [10:57] did get sober from fentanyl for I think [11:01] it was a year. He was in Teen Challenge [11:03] and he did amazing. He was working out [11:05] every day. He graduated from longterm. [11:11] But that's when he started using it [11:12] again. [11:17] It was like 4:00 a.m. I woke up and my [11:19] stomach was really upset and I was like, [11:22] "What? What is why?" You know, I just [11:24] wasn't feeling right at all. Then his [11:27] girlfriend texts me and she was like, [11:29] "I've been calling his phone over and [11:31] over and over." One of his friends [11:33] answered finally and said that he's [11:35] going to the hospital. [11:39] So, we got there and he was um hooked up [11:44] to all the machines. They, you know, it [11:46] was breathing for him. [11:49] And they said um he was found in a house [11:53] in Kettle River. He had to be airlifted. [11:56] When they found him, he was aspirating. [11:59] So, I called everyone and I'm like, "You [12:01] might want to come up here." [12:03] I made a post on Facebook cuz he had he [12:06] knows so many people, hundreds of people [12:10] came to visit him and people that were [12:12] using, people that were in recovery and [12:15] this is when they were going to like [12:16] unplug the life support. [12:19] So, I just remember walking down the [12:21] hall to where like his body was and it [12:24] was just haunting like it haunts me [12:27] every day. [12:32] And it [music] was just like screaming, [12:34] crying, screaming, crying. I had my hand [12:37] in his heart the [music] whole time and [12:38] I felt his last heartbeat and I couldn't [12:42] even like breathe. [12:49] I don't want [music] this to happen to [12:50] anybody else. It's horrible. My life is [12:54] forever changed and [12:58] it can [music] be prevented for other [13:00] people out there. [13:02] You can [music] make it. Recovery is [13:04] possible. Living without it is possible. [13:07] You know, there's so much to live for. [13:09] [music] [13:09] >> I thought I would never overdose. You [13:12] know, it doesn't ever h happen [music] [13:14] to, you know, to you until it does. [13:17] I had to learn to to look myself in the [13:20] mirror and say, "Look, you you did this. [13:22] You put yourself here now. You get [13:25] yourself out." [13:26] >> I said those three words [music] that [13:29] are so important. I need help. [13:34] And that's when my [music] life turned [13:35] around. [13:40] I believe there [music] is hope. There's [13:42] more hope today than there was 10 years [13:44] ago. [13:45] >> We're going to check in here. [13:46] >> All right. [13:47] Okay, I'm Alex and this is Janessa. [13:49] >> The Anoka County Opioid Solutions [13:51] Initiative is very involved with trying [13:54] to make uh opioid use disorder more [13:57] public and trying to provide education [14:00] about it uh not only in the schools but [14:03] within the community. They are doing a a [14:06] fabulous job in making Narcan more [14:10] available in the community. Nlloxxone or [14:13] Narcan, the only thing to be known to [14:15] work on the opioid receptors of the [14:17] brain to successfully reverse an opioid [14:20] [music] overdose. [14:23] So, I care so much about this work [14:25] [music] because [14:27] I've lost my three best friends. I've [14:29] lost my participants. I've lost [music] [14:32] clients at other jobs. I've lost [14:34] co-workers. I've lost people in the [14:36] recovery world. and uh 20 to 30 a year [14:40] people I know that [music] die from [14:41] overdose and I I'm tired of it. I start [14:46] [music] with two rescue breaths. You [14:48] know, I try to wake you up. I determine [14:50] it's an overdose. That's the first step. [14:52] I call 911 and make sure you're on your [14:54] back with your airway open. I give you [14:56] two [music] rescue breaths with the [14:57] breathing barrier. And then I'm going to [14:59] inject you. And if this was someone's [15:01] leg, [music] I just go like this. I push [15:03] it in and just like that. And you just [15:06] go slow. You don't need a slam. Just go [15:07] real slow pushing in it. [music] In [15:09] recent years, Nlloxxone or Narcan have [15:13] become a lot more accessible in Anoka [15:15] County. There's several places you can [15:16] get it. [music] There's recovery [15:18] community organizations, some local [15:20] government buildings, some local [15:22] libraries, and then a few treatment [15:24] centers [music] as well. Starting to see [15:26] more resources in the county for [15:28] substance use. I think more so in the [15:31] department of community organizations [15:33] opening up. [15:35] These are places where after people get [15:36] done with treatment, how do they get the [15:38] help they need? [music] You have a place [15:39] you can come hang out. You can get [15:40] connected, access resources. And so, [15:43] you're starting to see more safe spaces [15:45] for people in recovery. [music] You [15:46] >> can see it's a real comfortable space [15:48] with the couches and people like to just [15:51] hang out and talk. My name is Billlair [15:54] and I'm the executive director at the [15:56] Recovery Cafe in Oka County. [15:59] >> [music] [16:00] >> Recovery Cafe is just a place for people [16:04] in recovery to come together, to know [16:06] each other, to find a place they belong, [16:09] to be supported by members alongside [16:12] themselves. I need to fill my spare time [16:16] in so that I [music] can progress in my [16:20] sobriety and along the way [music] [16:23] I can help others. This is kind of like [16:25] almost a second home here. I've been [16:28] sober for seven years. [16:31] Recovery for me, it just means a lot to [16:34] me to [music] gain friendships and also [16:37] you feel welcome and um and feel [music] [16:40] safe. [16:41] >> Hello everyone. I'm Alex. [16:43] >> Hi Alex. [16:44] >> My first day when I came is like my life [16:47] is seem to improved like a hundfold. If [16:52] somebody comes here and [music] tells [16:54] us, I want to get help, and that's the [16:56] key is they have to want [music] it, [16:59] we'll get them in. [17:00] >> Bring them over and let them know that [17:01] we're here for you. [17:02] >> The East African and Muslim community [17:05] here in Anoka County has been [17:06] exponentially increasing in the past [17:08] [music] few years. So, up until this [17:10] year, Anoka County did not have a [17:13] culturally specific outpatient substance [17:16] use facility [music] for East African [17:18] Muslim population. And we are proud to [17:21] announce that [music] we are the first [17:22] facility here at Anoka County Uplift [17:25] Treatment Center. Communities of color [17:27] are disproportionately impacted. [music] [17:29] And in 2024, Star Tribune did a an [17:32] article on and they stated that in 2022 [17:35] they found that the [music] whole black [17:37] American community were four times more [17:39] likely to die from opioid overdose [17:42] [music] and the um Native Americans were [17:44] 12 times more likely to die in [17:47] comparison to their white counterparts [17:49] in the community. Our mission and vision [17:51] have always been ensuring that we [17:52] provide the underserved population here [17:55] in Anoka. Makes us proud to know that [17:57] we're filling the gap. [18:03] >> Come in. [18:05] >> Hello. [18:05] >> Hey, doc. [18:06] >> Hi. [18:07] >> Hi. How we doing? [18:07] >> Hi, Louis. [18:09] >> Well, I hear things are different now [18:10] around the house a little bit. [18:13] >> It's a lot better. Hopefully. [18:15] >> Yeah, it's a lot better. We used to have [18:17] a sanitation company and I got crushed [18:19] in between a dumpster and the ground. I [18:22] had to go through four major surgeries [18:24] and two minor surgeries to even get my [18:26] legs to working where they are now. [18:29] Yeah, it it'd be sharp pain. Well, it's [18:31] sharp. It's numb. Sometimes it's hard to [18:34] explain it. It's so intense that it's [18:36] just you don't know how to explain it. [18:38] And it's been that way off and on for 25 [18:41] years. [18:44] At one time I was on 18 different pills [18:45] a day [18:46] >> at least. [18:47] >> At least. [18:49] >> So he's been on different doses of [18:52] Vicodin, Oxycodone, morphine, [18:55] >> oxycottton, [18:56] >> delotted, [18:58] fentanyl. [19:00] >> At one time they had me on oxycottton [19:02] and oxycodone. [19:05] >> He was an angry person. He didn't have [19:08] joy in anything he wanted to do. And you [19:11] just after a while you just you care [19:13] less if you're here or not cuz you don't [19:15] [music] have a life [19:17] cuz even like being on them doses my [19:19] pain never got below a seven. [19:22] >> When opioids are taken over a long [19:24] period of time they can actually make [19:27] you [music] more sensitive to pain. So [19:29] in the long run opioids can make chronic [19:34] pain [snorts] worse. So, I would say our [19:37] goal is to get patients to a minimal [19:40] dose of opioids. [19:42] >> This way, baby. [19:44] >> And we recently looked at about uh 140 [19:47] patients who went through our program [19:50] and 2/3 of those came off [music] [19:52] opioids entirely, but no wheelchair [19:55] today. [19:55] >> No, I haven't had to I haven't had to [19:57] use it for over a year. We really do [19:58] comprehensive medical management of [20:01] [music] chronic pain and really try to [20:04] do it in a way that's integrated [music] [20:06] that the patient has one care plan and [20:08] that all their healthcare providers are [20:10] talking with each other. [20:11] >> You look wonderful. [20:13] >> Oh, things are a lot better. Yeah, it [20:15] it's a it's a Yeah, it's a big [20:17] difference. [20:19] So, a number of patients [20:22] leave their first visit with me. They [20:25] will say to me, "I'm leaving here with [20:28] some hope." And hope is something they [20:31] haven't experienced for a long time. [20:36] >> I mean, I never thought I'd get to this [20:38] point. I mean, I figured I'd die on [20:40] opiates. [20:42] It It makes life worth living again. [20:46] I went through uh sober living at Moroi [20:49] and uh went through outpatient treatment [20:52] center [20:54] coming up on 5 years clean. Things are a [20:56] lot different now. Just the beginning of [20:58] this year, I kind of made a leap of [20:59] faith and started my own general [21:00] contracting company. I mean, I get to [21:02] see my daughter, you know, whenever [21:03] she's not hanging out with her teenage [21:05] friends and stuff, but I have a lot more [21:08] to lose now and a [music] lot more to to [21:10] live for than than I didn't before. [21:14] I have two children. My son Christopher [21:17] grew up playing poker music right [21:19] alongside of me and it's [music] [21:20] something that we can do together that [21:22] we really really enjoy. [singing] [21:25] [music] [21:27] >> What has helped me to be sober today is [21:31] working a 12step program, working with [21:35] other women, being out in the community, [21:38] [music] helping wherever I can. With the [21:40] nasal ones, if I were to open this, [21:42] instead of the spring load coming back, [21:44] the button locks up in place. [21:46] >> Even when I was wrapped up in my [21:47] addiction and I had lost my home, I had [21:49] lost all my friends, anything of value [21:51] in my life, I just [music] had this [21:53] little sliver. [21:54] >> To think that it could get better. And [21:57] if someone can hold on to that and then [21:59] you can have someone walk alongside them [22:02] and pair them with someone that says, [22:03] "Hey, I got you. Let me show you this." [22:06] I think that you can do it. I feel like [22:08] that's really important [music] when [22:09] you're trying to change your life. And [22:11] having people around you that want to do [22:13] the same thing, it only makes you want [22:14] [music] to do better. [22:17] >> It's still the community that I built my [22:20] [music] sobriety around from square one. [22:22] And I also saw the people that I was [22:23] closest to succeed right in front of me. [22:26] >> It uh it brought a whole thought process [22:28] [music] [22:29] where this was never possible to seeing [22:32] it being possible. So, it's Chancellor [22:34] is the initials and then the um ribbon [22:36] is overdose awareness. [22:38] >> Yep. So, we put overdose awareness and [22:41] and put them on our sleeve and and um [22:44] kept hitting balls for chance all [22:45] season. [22:47] [screaming] [22:48] >> So, for me, softball Friday nights are [22:52] still a big memory piece of dang, I wish [22:55] he was here or dang, why can't Chance be [22:57] here? and that we're going to keep [22:59] fighting for recovery for people [23:00] regardless, you know, and and not give [23:03] up. You know, I'm very grateful for [23:06] Rocky and everything that you did for [23:08] him and and you know that we're always [23:10] going to fight for for a chance and and [23:12] for those that are in recovery now.