How a Lafayette group is working to prevent fentanyl overdose

Jay Brooks knows the pain of losing a loved one to a fentanyl overdose.

"I lost so many friends and I kinda was helpless," she said. "I know a lot of people who have lost people to overdose I know a lot of people in sobriety and recoveries."

In 2021, there were 135 people who died from an overdose in Lafayette Parish, according to data from the coroner. Of those deaths, 16 people died from a fentanyl overdose and 103 people died from a multi-drug overdose but were found to have fentanyl in their system.

There were 83 people in 2020 who died from an overdose in Lafayette Parish and 55 people who died from an overdose in 2019, according to the coroner's office.

While prescription painkillers and heroin drove the nation's overdose epidemic last decade, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is now responsible for most overdose deaths in the U.S. and in Lafayette. The street version is different from legal fentanyl, a powerful pain medicine vetted by the Food and Drug Administration and prescribed in medical settings to treat intense pain in cancer patients.

Brooks decided to host an event – Harmless Halloween – to raise awareness about harm reduction. From there, she created the Instagram page Harm Reduction Hotties, researched other harm reduction groups, and collected and handed out fentanyl testing strips and Narcan, a nasal spray that can treat an opioid overdose.

Fentanyl deaths: More than 107,000 Americans died from overdoses last year

"We're just kind of getting started with it," Brooks said. "But it was a way for me to get personal and do something that made me feel like I wasn't just grieving all the time and sad all the time. And that I was actually making an impact on the community that is hurting so bad."

Harm reduction emphasizes engaging directly with people who use drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease transmission, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Its goal is to holistically improve each person's well-being and offer low-threshold options for accessing substance use disorder treatment and other health care services.

The response to Harm Reduction Hotties has been positive, Brooks said.

"Everyone is really excited and really happy and really appreciative and supportive of what I do," Brooks said. "There's definitely a desperate need for harm reduction in Lafayette."

Harmless Halloween, which is from 2-11 p.m. on Sunday at Blue Moon Saloon, will feature vendors, food, music and other activities like face painting. There will be a costume contest. Clothing donations are being collected to give to sober living houses in Lafayette. It's $10 to attend.

She hopes it will be a learning experience.

"I want them (attendees) to think differently about addicts and how they perceive addition," Brooks said. "And for addicts, that they think differently about how they use drugs and that they have some education on how to respond to a crisis situation."

Brooks has been able to hand out Narcan and fentanyl testing strips at bars and parks in Lafayette, encouraging people to carry it. The 27-year-old said it's important that people know how to respond in an emergency situation.

"That's my most important thing for the event is that people learn how to handle that call because that call changed my life," she said. "I want everyone to be prepared for that call so we don't lose any more of our friends."

Volunteers are still needed for Harmless Halloween and can send Brooks a private message through Instagram. She also said people can volunteer to hand out test strips and Narcan in town. A GoFundMe is raising money to purchase harm-reduction materials.

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How harm reduction is addressing fentanyl overdoses in Lafayette