Letter to the editor: How we can win this drug war - from within.
By Jayne Flores
Flores
Not so fun fact: In March of this year, the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center acquired a new vending machine that sits just outside of its entrance doors. But instead of soft drinks or bottled water that you have to pay for, this machine dispenses a free product: Naloxone - the generic name for Narcan - the over-the-counter opioid overdose antidote. The directions on administering it are on the side of the machine.
Carissa Pangelinan, Acting Director of GBHWC, says that since March, “We’ve had to refill the machine seven times.”
SEVEN times - in five months. The machine holds 50 doses of Narcan. That’s 350 doses that have gone out into the community. Can you imagine if GBHWC hadn’t acquired that vending machine? We might have had multiple overdose deaths on our hands since March.
Police Chief Stephen Ignacio says we’ve already seen several deaths due to fentanyl - which is one of the opioids that Narcan is effective at reversing the effects of when people overdose on them.
Chief Ignacio and other officials tell us that a good percentage of the drugs we are seeing on Guam’s streets and in its darker corners come in through the mail. As Governor Leon Guerrero mentioned in her recent address about fentanyl hitting our shores, local law enforcement and customs officials are working with the feds to intercept these dangerous drugs before they hit our streets.
Because dealers are insanely selling a product that can kill someone the first time they try it, it is imperative that we arm our students - especially those in middle and high school - with information. They need to understand that the deadly risks associated with fentanyl, heroin, and prescription painkillers far outweigh any of the lies they will hear from scumbag pill pushers. Thus, GBHWC, the Department of Youth Affairs, and PBS are partnering with the Department of Education to launch a “One Pill Can Kill” campaign.
We also need to throw the book at dealers. Decades in jail are a start. Make them pay restitution to the family if their product causes someone to die.
But also - and this is where we can win this war - we need the eyes and ears of the community. Your eyes and ears. If you know or suspect that a friend, neighbor, coworker, or even a family member is dealing, make that anonymous call to 911 or the DEA (671) 472-7384. That’s right. As difficult as it may be to do so, turn them in.
As many of us have seen or experienced, drugs destroy the soul of a person. Eventually, what is left is a hollowed out shell that cares only about scoring that next high. We’ve seen people get murdered because of their involvement with Guam’s drug world. I’ve talked to an attorney whose minor clients were prostituted by a family member for drugs. The cops have entered homes where kids are starving, where the baby’s diaper hasn’t been changed all day because mommy is stoned out of her mind. Beatings. Sexual assaults. Burglaries. Robberies. Shootings. All due to ravenous desperation for that next fix. So, turning in a dealer is equivalent to saving lives.
In addition to its Narcan vending machine, GBHWC is also pursuing grants to enable more people hooked on these substances to seek treatment.
Because unless we can wrestle our loved ones and friends and coworkers from the deadly grip of this menace, that Narcan machine is going to keep emptying out as quickly as the folks at GBHWC can fill it.
If you are struggling with drug addiction, we encourage you to seek help. Call the TOHGE Warmline at 671-787-9726 OR 671-686-9726.
Jayne Flores serves as Director of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs and Administrator of the Governor’s Community Outreach-Federal Programs Office, which handles federal grants to help victims of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
