Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak talk to Chad Napier about the devastating impact drug use has had in his community and the dangers of synthetic drugs.
Key Points

West Virginia leads the nation in drug overdose
National average is 19.8 per 100,000 but West Virginia is 52 per 100,000
Babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome need to be weaned off the drugs after birth
Whenever there is a prescription pill problem, there is going to be a heroin problem (80% of heroin users come from prescription pill abuse)
Drug users often say that it’s no longer about being high, it’s about not getting sick from withdrawals
Fentanyl (a highly potent synthetic drug) is cut into almost every drug out there
We need to start looking at why people use drugs in the first place.

Resources

166: The Science of Addiction with Dr. Michael Hanna
Handle With Care
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

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Transcript
Dave: [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 170, Chad Napier: Drug Trends and Risks in Our Communities.

Production Credits: [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:36] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we've been spending the last couple of episodes of hearing from some of the experts that we had at the Ensure Justice conference this year in 2018. And today, another expert that is going to again challenge us with some new thinking and help us to study the issues, such an important mission of what the Global Center for Women and Justice is all about. Right?

Sandie: [00:01:09] Absolutely.

[00:01:11] I am so glad to welcome to our show today Chad Napier. Chad is the prevention coordinator for Appalachia HIDTA, which is the high-intensity drug trafficking area for West Virginia and Virginia since 2015. Prior to this position, he spent 20 years in law enforcement and retired back in 2015. In 1997, he was assigned to the CPD street crimes unit with the primary duties of investigation, arrest, and prosecution of street-level drug deals. For three years he was assigned as a detective with the Metropolitan drug enforcement network team, with the primary duties of investigation and prosecution of state and federal drug violations. He was later appointed the commander of the Metropolitan drug enforcement network team. He's worked on hundreds of drug-related arrests and drug violations. And he's also been declared as an expert witness in illegal drug possession and distribution in many state and federal courts. Chad we're so glad to welcome you to Ending Human Trafficking.

Chad: [00:02:12] Thanks for having me.

Sandie: [00:02:13] We're so excited. Originally, I tried to do an interview with you and your partner with Handle with Care, Andrea Karr. But we already interviewed her a couple episodes ago and now I'm really glad that you weren't both available because we need more time with each of you individually. So, welcome. Let's start off with learning a little bit more about what does it mean, the HIDTA, what does that really entail.

Chad: [00:02:44] HIDTA stands for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. So, there are 28 HIDTAs across the country, and I work for Appalachia HIDTA. And Appalachia HIDTA is in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee. And Virginia. But HIDTAs are funded by the Office of National Dr...