![]() ![]() She also knew a needle she dropped off might deliver her daughter's final shot of opioids, the one that would slow her breathing to a stop, turn her lips blue and end her life. Renae knew clean needles could improve her daughter's health. Transmissions are common among people without access to clean needles. And Renae assumed Brooke was sharing needles with friends who could have hepatitis C, HIV and other viruses. Searching for a vein with a blunt needle creates bruising and wounds. Renae could imagine why: Needles get dull with repeated use. Brooke seemed reasonably healthy, and not too thin, but open wounds on her arms were getting worse. As she puts it, "I was wanting to force her to do what I wanted her to do."ĭuring each delivery, Renae did a quick scan. She would ground Brooke and take away her cell phone. Renae would respond like many parents do. Renae's transformation from anxious mom to intrepid overdose prevention advocate started in her daughter's early teens with lots of mother-daughter fights. Some years ago, when Renae's daughter began using drugs, Renae would have condemned her own behavior too. "I enable them to leave of their own volition and not on an ambulance gurney or in a body bag." "Yes, I enable, I absolutely do." she says. Opponents argue that Renae and others should focus on sending people with an addiction to treatment, not enabling their use. It's unclear whether federal agents will move to shut them down. city and a few states are testing this law and have opened or plan to open supervised consumption clinics. It says allowing illegal drug use in any designated space is against the law. What Renae sees as a life-saving mission is likely a violation of a federal law passed in 1986, during a surge in crack cocaine use. By Renae's tally, she's reversed at least 30 overdoses in the past few years. Renae is cautious about who she lets into her home, and there are rules. In the meantime, she makes people comfortable if they nod off, checks vital signs and provides rescue breathing or Narcan when needed. Renae is determined to make a dent in those numbers by intervening when people stop breathing and helping them start treatment for their addiction if they are ready. Nationwide, more than half of people found dead after an overdose were alone. "People die of overdoses because they're by themselves." "This is seriously all it takes to keep somebody alive," Renae says, hands spread toward her home-based supervised consumption site. Much of what happens next may be illegal, so this story will not include full names, locations or detailed timelines. Still, Christina has taken the time to come to Renae's backyard because she trusts Renae to keep her alive. She's anxious and has that feeling she's going to be sick - the early signs of withdrawal. ![]() It's been nine hours since her last shot of an opioid. Renae bustles around, looking for her glasses, pulling back her hair and chatting with a few other guests who have now arrived. Those clinics are endorsed by the American Medical Association and other leading medical groups but condemned by critics who say they sanction, even endorse, drug use. It's an informal, rarely discussed version of the controversial overdose prevention centers, also known as supervised consumption sites, where trained staff supervise people using drugs. Renae occasionally monitors illegal drug use at her home for Christina and a few dozen other people she's grown close to over the years. On fentanyl, Christina gets temporary relief from three mental health diagnoses she struggles to manage: depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. A test strip will confirm it includes fentanyl, the opioid that's driving overdose deaths in the United States to record highs - an estimated 112,000 lives lost in the latest 12-month period.Ĭhristina will use the powder anyway to appease her addiction and numb the pain of abuse, lost children and despair. "Just get your stuff ready."Ĭhristina opens a Mountain Dew and arranges her supplies: a new syringe, a lighter, a tiny metal cup and a baggie with brownish powder clumped in one corner. "Hey baby, you sit right here," Renae says to Christina, the first guest to arrive. Renae is about to host a gathering with a singular goal: saving lives. She scans the lawn behind her modest home in the rural South for folding chairs and pulls up three. Renae moves hedge clippers, gloves and used coffee mugs off a table in her backyard and wipes it down. ![]()
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