— The opioid crisis has become a national emergency.
Overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50—
worse than car crashes or gun violence.
But the epidemic is more than just numbers.
And to understand it,
you have to go to the communities that it’s tearing apart.
— I come out here because of the children and the animals.
I don’t want them to get poked.
139 I got, that was the most I ever got…
…in one day.
And there’s another one I see.
I just started.
Sometimes, you find them in socks.
Sometimes you find them in cigarette packs.
Find them in the walls.
In the trees.
They die in here, too.
But now I’m used to it.
— I didn’t even know this place was called McPherson Library.
This is Needle Park.
— If you’re not adding skills as a librarian,
especially because you’re working with the public,
you’re not fulfilling your role.
I was very adamant about getting the Narcan training,
when we had an overdose in the building, right by our public restroom…
there’s something extremely horrifying and upsetting
about watching somebody slowly die and you can’t do anything.
Narcan can come in a nasal spray,
or this, which turns into a nasal mist, as well.
So, this little thing saves lives.
— My freshman year in college, playing football,
I had an awesome year.
And, uh, the game before the playoffs,
I tore my knee.
I just had a fucking doctor that wanted to give me all these pills.
I kept going back to the dude,
and he was giving me, you know, whatever.
I said, “These 5’s aren’t working right.
“I need something stronger.”
So he gives me 7.5s.
And some Dilaudid.
— About two weeks ago, one of the kids, one of the regulars who come in afterschool,
ran in and said, “Someone fell outside.”
And I kinda knew what that meant.
I ran out, he was turning blue,
he was seizing up.
So we gave him a dose.
Luckily, as we were waiting for the ambulance,
a group of police officers were walking through the park.
So we waved them down.
The officers gave the gentleman two more doses of Narcan.
We were trained in March, and I’ve Narcan’ed…
six individuals now.
— I’d be dead if it wasn’t for Narcan.
When I relapsed, I OD’d, like, the third time I got high and, um…
I almost didn’t make it.
They hit me with Narcan four times, and, finally, the fourth time I woke up.
I don’t want to live like this.
This is terrible.
— Where’s your little brother going?
One of the reasons I chose this branch is due to personal history.
Both of my parents, um, are in recovery for over 20 years now.
They used heroin.
They had substance use disorder.
And they both were able to get clean.
It took a lot of support.
And time.
See you tomorrow, Sterling.
No one really gets clean in 30 days,
if you talk to anybody who is in recovery,
so until we radically change the way we treat addiction in this country,
this community, unfortunately, will not strive forward.