Fentanyl overdose deaths affect every family and every part of society
Buenos días, readers:
Joy Padilla-Anderson's journey took her from Tampa to Texas to Memphis, where she owned The Joy Ride, a Latin American food truck.
She enjoyed making Cuban sandwiches and once won second place in the 2015 International Cuban Sandwich Festival.
She raised money to help the victims of hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico.
But Padilla-Anderson also suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, and she died of an overdose on Sept. 3, 2020.
The scourge of drug overdose deaths worsened over the years and no family — of any background, culture and socio-economic level — has been spared.
Years ago, prescription opioids were the main culprit. Today, it is primarily illicit fentanyl. Padilla-Anderson died of a fentanyl and cocaine overdose.
Her family shared her story with The Tennessean's reporting intern Logan Washburn in a story about the fentanyl crisis.
Beyond the statistics — 2,000 Tennesseans died of an overdose involving fentanyl in 2020 — there are the stories of real people who are struggling.
"We were all distraught," said Victor Padilla, brother of Padilla-Anderson. "The whole family couldn't believe it."
If you or a relative are seeking help to combat addiction, call the Community Overdose Response Team at 615-687-1701.
In this week's newsletter, here are other articles you will find:
Tennessean reporter Rachel Wegner told the story of Zuriel Godinez, a Gallatin resident originally from Mexico who benefited from the 10-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
The Associated Press reported that Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde, Texas, school district police chief stepped down from his city council position.
Among the mass shooting victims at a Chicago area Fourth of July parade was Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico.
USA TODAY reporter Tiffany Cusaac-Smith provides a history of how the ballroom subculture created a community and place of belonging for Latino and Black LGBTQ people.
Share your cuento: Be a Latino storyteller
The Tennessean is partnering with Plaza Mariachi to put on Latino Tennessee Storytellers program on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Nominate yourself or someone else to volunteer to share a 10- to 12-minute story that evening. Email me your name, contact information and story idea to dplazas@tennessean.com.
Happy week! ¡Muchas gracias!
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Fentanyl overdose deaths affect every family and all of society
