Frederica Freyberg:

$429 million will go to 87 different local governments throughout Wisconsin as part of a multistate lawsuit against companies that manufacture and distribute prescription opioids. The Joint Finance Committee approved the amount Tuesday and released a statement, saying, “The settlement we approved today will ensure that as much funding as possible goes toward opioid abuse prevention and recovery – a critically needed support after overdose deaths increased more than 25% and hit a record high last year.” Despite holding big pharma accountable for their part in the opioid epidemic, communities across Wisconsin are and will be struggling with addiction and overdoses for years to come. One paramedic has seen firsthand how the problem has gotten worse during the pandemic and in the smaller, northern community of Ashland, it hits close to home. David Rekemeyer joins us now from Ashland and thanks very much for being here.

David Rekemeyer:

Thank you, Frederica. How are you today?

Frederica Freyberg:

I’m very well. Thank you. But describe what your days are like as a first responder in the midst of a surge in overdoses.

David Rekemeyer:

Well, like every other problem with health or trauma that paramedics and fire departments deal with, some days there are — there’s nothing going on and other days, you know, we’ll respond to one or more opioid overdose calls. Often it depends on if there’s a new batch of drugs that has come into the community. Sometimes those drugs are stronger than what people with substance use disorder are used to having and so they’ll overdose on those. And, you know, there was one day we got three calls right in a row.

Frederica Freyberg:

What you’re seeing too as you just described is not just opioids and heroin but other drugs are in increasing use as well. Is that right?

David Rekemeyer:

Well, I think probably the largest problem we’re having now is with an opioid analog called fentanyl. This is an opioid-like drug that is created in laboratory and there’s large amounts of it that are coming into the United States from Mexico, making its way throughout all of our communities. And a lot of the drugs that, you know, we see that people are, you know, abusing are cut with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a really strong opioid so people often don’t know they’re ingesting fentanyl or they think they’re ingesting a certain amount and they ingest more than they planned on taking and they overdose on it.

Frederica Freyberg:

Yeah.

David Rekemeyer:

We have to respond to that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Ashland is ranked as one of the least healthy counties in Wisconsin, with a high child poverty rate. How in your mind do those conditions play into drug use and abuse and where you find yourself?

David Rekemeyer:

Well, you have to, you know, think of things in terms of, you know, what are the social determinants of health? You know, social determinants of health are things like access to education, access to food security, access to good health care. And all of those things are a challenge for people who live in poverty. And in this area of Wisconsin, a lot of people live at or under the poverty line. And I think because our communities, you know, are — you know, drugs are easy to get. Our communities are flooded with them. And, you know, I think people, once they get started, you know, in the beginning I think it can be easier to look at — to face life in an altered state than to face life, you know, head-on from a position of poverty and no opportunity. And so I think that they’re related in that way.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you think the pandemic played into this problem?

David Rekemeyer:

Well, I think the pandemic played into it because there are already the conditions that have made this a bad problem. And you add on to that the fact that, you know, people are now, you know — they have a greater degree of anxiety about, you know, going out and about. There are people who are, you know, getting sick. We’re stuck in our homes. All of those things kind of create the perfect storm of psychological conditions that make people more anxious. And when people are more anxious and they have a predilection towards substance use disorder, be it alcohol, be it heroin, whatever you’re talking about, they tend to do more of that as a means to mitigate the stress they’re feeling.

Frederica Freyberg:

Well, we want to thank you for joining us to describe what it’s like on the ground and also for your work. So, David Rekemeyer, thank you very much.

David Rekemeyer:

Thank you.