In the month since a dangerous elephant sedative was introduced to the Akron drug market, more people have overdosed on drugs than during the previous six months combined.
But for many Summit County residents, the scourge — which police are calling “mass chaos” — has inspired something more positive than hysteria: multipronged, grass-roots efforts to combat heroin and drugs like it.
From July 5 to Aug. 4, authorities reported 338 emergency calls for overdoses in Akron. Prior to that, 323 calls had been reported all year long.
In total, 79 people died this year of suspected overdoses in Akron. Of them, 27 — more than a third — died this past month. The surge in fatal overdoses even forced the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office to bring in a cold storage truck for a week because the office didn’t have the space to hold so many bodies.
Authorities blame the spike on carfentanil, a drug similar to heroin but used to sedate large animals in zoos.
Steve Brennan, 58, of Akron said the staggering spike in recent drug overdoses prompted him to act. Brennan, an addict who’s been in recovery for a year and a half, organized a list of 30 recovering addicts that he is sharing with the community through posters.
The posters — which include contact information — hang in gas station restrooms, dollar store entrances and other places commonly traversed by addicts. They urge those who want help to call for guidance and hope. Brennan even has one of the posters hanging in the back window of his SUV.
“I recovered because I found people who felt the way I had felt. We had a common bond,” Brennan said. “I maintain my sobriety because I have people in my life who I’m accountable to. Any addict can be like me.”
Today, Brennan gives back by working at IBH Addiction Recovery Center and volunteering in drug court programs at the county and city levels.
One of the men on Brennan’s list said he owes his newfound life to jail and treatment centers.
“Being put in jail saved my life, and IBH changed my life,” said Kenneth, who asked to be identified only by his first name in following the tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs.
He said he regrets all the decisions he made while struggling through addiction, but now works to correct those wrongs. The change is part of his recovery, he said. With a year of sobriety under his belt, Kenneth spends a lot of time doing volunteer work.
“We take and take and take in our addiction,” he said. “Today, I give and give and give.”
He said his recovery also gave him a relationship with God, and he’s never been happier.
A woman, who asked to be identified as Katy D. to protect her family from stigma, said she understands what it’s like to struggle.
She described the first time she used heroin, when a friend shot her up with the drug.
“It was like a warm hug, and everything felt OK. I loved it, and it was such a rush,” she said. “And every time after that I was trying to re-create that experience again, but I never got it again.”
She said that search led her to unspeakable acts.
“Nothing else mattered. I didn’t care who I hurt, I didn’t care if I got in trouble,” she said. “I would steal pills from my grandma with tears in her eyes, and in my head, I needed them more than she did.”
Katy, 20, said everything changed when she ended up in jail. She realized if she didn’t get help, she would end up dead. Now she’s been sober two years, due in large part to 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Life is better, she said.
“I don’t hate myself anymore. My family has trust in me. I have real friends who want nothing but my friendship,” she said. “I’m going into my second year in college. I haven’t gone to jail since I got sober. I don’t worry about who I’m going to hurt, who I’m going to steal from. And I have a relationship with God that I didn’t have before.”
Meanwhile, the local family of a man who died of an overdose last year has formed a nonprofit organization with the goal of giving families the resources to help their addicted loved ones. The contacts offered by Greg McNeil and Cover2 Resources were not available to him before his son, Sam, died in October at age 28.
“We thought we had it covered, but we didn’t,” said McNeil, of Hudson. “So we’re just trying to prepare other families because we weren’t.”
At Cover2’s website, cover2.org, McNeil has put together a series of podcasts detailing various aspects of addiction. In them, he interviews people who work in the field and highlights the good work they’re doing.
“All we’re inundated with is the negativity of this epidemic, which is important,” he said, “but we really want to look at the positives of it too.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ngfalcon.