Published: May 7, 2024 at 2:30 PM PST
View on the CBS 11 Website
CBS 11 News spoke with Porch Light Health’s Steve Carleton about fentanyl use and treatment on National Fentanyl Awareness Day.
I want to thank you for joining us here on KKTV. Com today. I’m Lauren Watson, your digital anchor here at KKTV 11 News, joined today by Steve Carleton. He’s the Chief Clinical Officer for Porch Light Health. Steve, how are you doing today?
Doing great.
Now, today is National Fentanyl Awareness Day, and why is it important to mark this day?
It’s important to just continue to raise awareness, right? So, the recent reports came out for 2023. We know is that the numbers of overdose deaths are plateauing, but that doesn’t mean that they’re declining. So, we still have a lot of work to do in reducing deaths and addiction calls from fentanyl.
And for those of our viewers at home who may not know, what exactly is Fentanyl?
So, Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate, right? So this is an opiate that is made using crude raw materials, right? So, using these materials that people can buy online, they can create this really powerful synthetic opiate, which is Think about it like it’s heroin, or morphine, or OxyContin, right? So it’s a powerful opiate that, when taken in too high of a dose, can cause people to stop breathing in and die.
And because of that, is it harder to treat fentanyl than it is to treat maybe some more common other drugs?
You know what’s interesting about in substance use disorders in general, the treatment for them, a lot of the same solutions, right? With fentanyl in particular, the cause for concern is this overdose death. And so the more we can help people and meet them where they’re at, and take it from a harm reduction standpoint, make sure that they have tools like NARCAN and naloxone, in case they do overdose, it’s going to save their life.
These types of Things are really important to incorporate into treatment. The other really important thing when you’re thinking about opiates, and fentanyl in particular, is the way it changes the brain. You do have to attack it a little bit differently. When people become addicted to opiates, it’s like their pleasure highway in their brain goes from two lanes to 10 lanes. And when people stop using that substance, it can be very, very uncomfortable. You experience significant cravings, which are mostly driven by the withdrawals. So you take away all of that traffic on that pleasure highway, and the brain becomes very irritated, and people experience these significant withdrawal symptoms that look, and feel, and appear like a really bad flu.
Now, I know you just touched a little bit on some things that can be used for treatment, but how can you help people who are dealing with maybe some fentanyl substance use disorder? And how can that be treated?
Yeah, and so what we do at Porch Light Health, one of the things we’re known for and making it very easy to access, is a medication in particular, called Suboxone. So what Suboxone does is it occupies those receptors on the brain that get irritated when people stop using. So when you think about that 10-lane pleasure highway, think about Suboxone is blocking off eight of those lanes. So, the brain is experiencing normal traffic patterns.
Again, is a good way to think about it. But Suboxone eliminates those cravings, it eliminates those withdrawal symptoms, and it helps people go on to live life in a productive, healthier way. Along with the medication, is you have to get people connected to treatment. You have to get people connected to supportive environments where they can thrive and improve their quality of life. And so, as such, Porch Light Health, we offer individual therapy. We offer a full assessment that’s going to identify what does that person need. And Here, soon to come, we’re also offering a virtual intensive outpatient program, which is like a class for how to better manage addiction and engage in recovery.
Now, if any of our viewers out there think they might know someone who they suspect might have an issue, how can they go about talking to that person?
So when you have a loved one or somebody that you care about that is that you’re concerned. It’s really important to remember that you might only get one good shot at talking with them. And so if you’re going to approach that topic, which is a good idea, you should express concern. You should pick your spot. You should pick a time when there’s not conflict going on. You should pick a time when things are relatively calm and peaceful and approach it from a place of care and compassion.
I’m concerned about you. The other thing that family members, loved ones, supports can do to help is take off some of that burden of the research. It can be really hard for people when they do decide to engage in recovery to know where to turn to. If they’re in survival mode, it’s going to be very difficult for them to do research on where they can turn. And so that’s also something that people can help with because what we know is, out of the 100 % of people that have a substance use disorder, only about 10% ever get access to addiction type of treatment.
And how can people go about getting help, getting treatment for this type of disorder?
Well, here in Colorado, I think Porch Light Health is a great place to turn to to start. We’re easy to reach, 866 Matt Stat, or visit us online, Porchlighthealth.com. I think those are both great places to start. We have a huge footprint in Colorado. We have We’re at about 60 points of care, and so chances are we’re somewhere near you. But looking on the SAMHSA website as well, that has a number of resources. Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration is what SAMHSA stands for. And so that’s another good place to turn. And then lastly, 988, our Crisis Hotline is also a good resource for people.
Awesome. Well, Steve, those are all of the prepared questions I had for you today. Before we go, is there anything else that you wanted to make sure we really emphasized or anything else you wanted to touch on on the point of Fentanyl Awareness?
I think with Fentanyl Awareness Day, I think what parents of teenagers, especially, need to hear and teenagers and adults as well. Everybody needs to hear this. With fentanyl on the street, drug dealers have become very sophisticated in how they sell and market drugs. So a lot of the drugs on the street are manufactured in these secret laboratories to look exactly like pharmaceutical medications.
So people think they’re taking a Valium pill out of somebody’s medicine cabinet, and really what that pill is, is fentanyl, or they think they’re taking OxyContin, or Xanex, or any other type of set of opiate. But those are counterfeit pills that your people are buying on the streets. And drug dealers, again, in terms of their sophistication, they sell a lot of these types of drugs over social media. And on social media, people can portray themselves however they want. They can portray themselves as a kid at a high school across town, and they have these pills that they stole out of somebody’s medicine cabinet. They’re very sophisticated in how they sell these. And more often than not, people don’t always know what they’re buying. And so, drugs on the street are in the 90s. We talked about them being very dangerous.
And I think all those fears from the 90s, about this is your brain on drugs, have sadly come true. One pill of fentanyl can kill people, if they don’t have a tolerance, and they don’t know what they’re taking. So it’s just a very dangerous drug climate out there on the street right now.
Well, Steve, again, I want to thank you so much for meeting up with me today, chatting about this very, very important topic, especially today on Fentanyl Awareness Day, and thank you guys at home for tuning in.
