Local group continues to 'fiercely fight fentanyl poisoning'
Dec. 6—Almost eight months ago, 3FP (Fiercely Fighting Fentanyl Poisoning), a Hunt County organization committed to educating the community about the dangers of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, staged its kickoff rally in Greenville.
Called "Don't CHEY away it's not a LITTLE problem," the gathering on the Hunt County Courthouse steps was held on April 14, the one-year anniversary of the death of Cheyenne Little of Greenville, whose life was cut short by an accidental Fentanyl overdose at the age of 26.
Since then, Cheyenne's mother and 3FP-founder Misty Greer-Little has been continuing her mission educating the public about how fake pills laced with fentanyl — like the one Cheyenne took thinking it was a hydrocodone — can easily cause accidental overdoses.
"We've been handing out a lot of literature about fentanyl poisoning at events like the Hunt County Fair and we've received several doses of NARCAN (an emergency medication in the form of a nasal spray that's used to counter breathing difficulties after an opioid overdose) from the North Texas Behavioral Authority that we've been giving to people so they can keep it handy in case they need it to save someone's life," Greer-Little said.
"We've also been training people on how to administer NARCAN," she said.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, often proving lethal with as little as 2 milligrams. Texas saw an 89% increase in fentanyl-related deaths between 2020 and 2021, with an estimated 1,672 deaths in 2021, compared to 883 in 2020, per state data. So far in 2022, about 1,400 Texans have died from fentanyl overdoses, Gov. Greg Abbott said last week.
In another important development in the fight against fentanyl addiction and poisoning, the University of Houston announced on Nov. 14 that one of its research teams has made strides in creating a vaccine that can "block [fentanyl's] ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug's high."
The head of the university's research team, Dr. Colin Haile, told the Herald-Banner that their tests with rats have indicated that the vaccine might also be able to reduce the potential lethality of a fentanyl overdose.
"Our vaccine blocks fentanyl's analgesic (pain reducing) and physiological effects associated with overdose," Haile said. "An individual would need to be vaccinated in advance and produce anti-fentanyl antibodies that prevent the drug's euphoric and deadly effects.
"We have confirmed that our vaccine prevents fentanyl from getting into the brain in male and female rats," Haile added. "We anticipate that the vaccine will have similar effects in humans."
Although Greer-Little sees potential for such a vaccine when it comes to protecting people against potential relapses while they're striving to kick opioid addictions, she's not sure how well it would prevent accidental overdoses for people who don't realize they're taking fentanyl.
"I was speaking about fentanyl poisoning at the Kiwanis Club when someone there had just heard the news about the vaccine," Greer-Little said. "I think it would go well with harm reduction in treating people who are already addicted to opioids, but since it has to be taken well ahead of time, I'm not sure how it would help with accidental fentanyl poisoning."
Over the next few months, Greer-Little will continue to plan for a second fentanyl awareness rally this coming April, and she plans to soon share her story and knowledge with students at Bland and Caddo Mills ISD.
