HAMILTON, Ohio — Public health officials said August was the deadliest month so far for overdoses in Butler County. More than 130 people were killed — nine in one week. Fentanyl is the most common denominator.
Hamilton Treatment Services' push to save lines involves one of America's most regulated drugs: methadone.
Trafficked as a teen, abused and shot in the face, Amy Detzel is an 11-time overdose survivor. A picture of hope, Detzel credits the counseling and medicine provided by the Hamilton Treatment Center for staying four years sober.
"I was so close to death, on my death bed from endocarditis, from fentanyl, that had I not made the move I did, I would be dead today," Detzel said. "So it was life or death for me."
While some criticize using a drug to wean users off, Hamilton Treatment Services executive director Ivy Voynovich said it is crucial to helping patients think clearly.
"Through medication counseling, group counseling, the whole gambit, everything that we offer we can fight this battle out here with people overdosing," Voynovich said.
Just a week ago, the DEA said "rainbow fentanyl," a rainbow-colored pill variety seized in 50 cities in 21 states over the last two weeks, is in the Tri-State.
"We view this as the trafficker's way of reaching a new demographic which is targeting young adults and children," Special Agent in Charge Orville Greene said.
That is what troubles Detzel the most.
"The futures of our children are at stake," Detzel said.
Now a counselor with a teenage son of her own, Detzel desperately wants people to avoid experimenting with drugs. For those who don't, she thinks treatment in Hamilton gives survivors reason for hope.
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