One Pill Can Kill

Description

Hi, I'm Jody Sweetin, and welcome to Season 4 of Awkward Conversations. This season, we provide parents with practical advice on raising happy, healthy, substance-free kids. Our focus will be on building resilience, and confidence, and empowering kids to make smart choices. We'll feature our amazing co-host, Amy McCarthy from Harvard's Boston Children's Hospital, and have discussions featuring our expert guests, including Richard Lucy, a Senior Prevention Program Manager from the DEA, and Joseph Bozenko, a Senior Research Chemist from the DEA. They will discuss critical topics such as the current fentanyl crisis, the importance of parent-child bonding, and the significant role of education and awareness. We highlight resources like GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and One Pill Can Kill, and discuss harm reduction strategies like naloxone. Remember, the only wrong conversation is the one you don't have with your kids.

Key Takeaways:

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
It is being increasingly laced into counterfeit pills and other drugs, leading to a rise in accidental overdoses.
The DEA is working to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl through its One Pill Can Kill campaign.
There are resources available to help parents talk to their children about drugs, such as Get Smart About Drugs.com.
Naloxone is a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose and is available over-the-counter in many states.

TIME STAMPS / IN THIS EPISODE:

[00:00] Welcome to Season 4 of Awkward Conversations
[01:14] Meet the Hosts and Guests
[02:23] The Fentanyl Crisis: A Terrifying Reality
[03:31] Understanding the Fentanyl Epidemic
[10:01] Raising Awareness and Prevention Efforts
[16:42] The Role of Technology in the Crisis
[21:08]Harm Reduction Strategies: Naloxone and Test Strips
[25:30]Final Thoughts and Resources for Parents
[31:03] Preview of Next Week's Episode: The Faces of Fentanyl

BIOS:

Jodie Sweetin is an actress, author, and advocate, best known for her role as Stephanie Tanner on the iconic sitcom "Full House" and its sequel "Fuller House". In 2009 she penned her memoir, "unSweetined", which chronicles her journey through addiction and into recovery. With her frank and open approach, Jodie has emerged as a compelling speaker and advocate who now seeks to use her platform and experiences to educate others and reduce the stigma associated with addiction and recovery.

@jodiesweetin

Amy McCarthy, LICSW, is a Director of Clinical Social Work at Boston Children's Hospital’s Division of Addiction Medicine. She has been working in the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program since 2019

@amymccarthylicsw

Richard Lucey has more than three decades of experience at the state and federal government levels working to prevent alcohol and drug use and misuse among youth and young adults, especially college students. He currently serves as a senior prevention program manager in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section. Rich plans and executes educational and public information programs, evaluate program goals and outcomes, and serves as an advisor to the Section Chief and other DEA officials on drug misuse prevention and education programs. Rich formerly served as special assistant to the director for the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and worked as an education program specialist in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

Joe Bozenko is a Senior Research Chemist with the DEA’s Special Testing and Research Laboratory at Dulles, Virginia, and a Scientific Advisor to DEA’s Special Operations Division. He’s been with the DEA for 21 years and investigates synthetic drug manufacturing around the world. Mr. Bozenko has processed some of the largest methamphetamine laboratories in the world, traveled extensively, and has authored and presented many reports and scientific articles pertaining to the clandestine synthesis of controlled substances. Mr. Bozenko is closely involved with science-related officer safety and leads DEA’s handheld instrumentation testing and evaluation. In addition to this, Mr. Bozenko has also been instrumental in he development of the DEA’s High-Hazard Level ‘A’ Clandestine Laboratory Response Training Program. Mr. Bozenko is also charged with the specialized analysis of selected fentanyl, methamphetamine, and MDMA samples, both domestic and international, for intelligence purposes. Mr. Bozenko holds both a Baccalaureate and Master’s Degrees in Chemistry and is an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Shepherd University.

Elks: As a 150-year-old organization, they are 100% inclusive with a membership of close to 1 million diverse men and women in over 2,000 Lodges nationally, and while they consider themselves faith based, they are nondenominational and open to all creeds. The Elks have always prided themselves on civic duty, and the Elks Drug and Alcohol Prevention (DAP) program is the nation's largest all volunteer Kids Drug & Alcohol Use Prevention program. The Elks are also strong supporters of our brave men and women in the military, having built and donated the nation's first VA Hospital to the U.S. government. The Elks have donated more than $3.6 billion in cash, goods, and services to enrich the lives of millions of people!

DEA: The United States Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973 by President Nixon after the government noticed an alarming rise in recreational drug use and drug-related crime. A division of the Department of Justice, DEA enforces controlled substances laws by apprehending offenders to be prosecuted for criminal and civil crimes. DEA is the largest and most effective antidrug organization in the world, with 239 domestic locations in 23 field divisions and 91 international field divisions in 68 countries.