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For the first time ever, more than 2,000 people died from drug overdoses in one year in Kentucky, according to a new report. Fentanyl was identified in 73% of overdose deaths in 2021, according to the Kentucky Drug Administration. Brandon Reed is one of many victims in that report who died of a fentanyl overdose last year. Brandon’s grieving father says his son was more than just a random statistic, with Alan Reid describing his son as “loving, fun and lively.” The two shared a close bond. “We fished the Cumberland River, kayaked, rowed, caught trophy trout, and caught all those healthy things,” Alan says through tears. increase.
Brandon loves sports and injured his knee while playing basketball. It led to multiple surgeries and he was prescribed OxyContin for pain control, which Alan believes his son was “over-prescribed.” It was only a matter of time before Brandon became addicted to opioids, and Brandon admitted to his father that he was addicted to OxyContin and eventually asked for help.
Fentanyl overdoses have claimed the lives of thousands of Americans. What’s Behind the Rise?
“I don’t even know how many addiction treatment centers we’ve tried from New York to Florida, Missouri. We’ve tried dozens of centers in Kentucky,” says Allan. Over the years Brandon attended over 20 rehab centers, but he was never able to overcome his addiction.
“It’s impossible for an individual with a substance use disorder to get out of this state on their own. It won’t happen,” Allan said.. It is progressive and death is the end result. “
Brandon battled addiction for 21 years. “He managed it down to fentanyl. That’s what catches you,” says Alan.
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Brandon purchased opiates from a woman last October. They were laced with fentanyl, which Brandon overdosed on after taking the drug. But soon after, the dealer pushed Brandon to buy more fentanyl-laced drugs. Brandon ingested a lethal dose at his girlfriend’s apartment and died later that night in the bathroom. he was 41 years old.
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“Losing a child is the hardest thing a parent has ever experienced. It is out of the natural order. Don’t count on it,’ says the grieving father. Alan shared his sadness at working with the Bowling Green Narcotics Task Force to hold his son’s murderer accountable, a task force investigation that resulted in 10 indictments. Alan’s current mission is to prevent other parents from experiencing this kind of tragedy. “It’s like rolling the dice,” he says.
Fox News spoke to Tom Loving, the head of the Warren County Anti-Drug Commission involved in the case of Brandon Reed.Two years ago, his task force seized 2,000 fentanyl tablets in Kentucky. Did. Last year, that number doubled. This year that number has already tripled for him, with more than 14,000 tablets seized. Love condemns drug smuggling on the southern border. He states that “drug trafficking and the flow of drugs into this country ends up in communities like Bowling He Green, Kentucky.”