Overdose deaths continue to impact Mecklenburg County residents. Over the past six years, annual overdose deaths among Black and Hispanic residents have risen sharply. In part one of WFAE’s series, we talked to drug users about why they turned to substances. In part two, we talk with researchers who test the drugs and with a person who says he sold those drugs.
Erin Tracy wore a tie-dyed lab coat in a small lab at UNC-Chapel Hill on a recent morning. Tracy explained what a nearby machine was doing to some samples in tubes."So, we're converting it from a liquid to a gas,” Tracy said. "And now those gas molecules will move through a column in this oven. And then we will see what the individual components of the mixture are.”
Tracy is a research chemist. She tests opioid samples like heroin and fentanyl. The UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab receives about 400 a week from places like New York, Seattle and Charlotte.
"We don’t receive samples from individuals,” Tracy said. "We receive samples from a program as a whole, so a harm reduction program, a syringe services program, a health department, or hospitals.”
In a nearby room, Nabarun Dasgupta worked on his laptop. Dasgupta is a scientist and part of the team. Dasgupta is also somewhat of a genius. This year, the researcher won a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a “genius grant,” for his efforts and research to reduce fatal overdoses, deaths, and harm from drug use.
He says they receive mixed samples from Mecklenburg County.
“The samples that are supposedly fentanyl actually have five, six or seven different things in them,” Dasgupta said. "So when people say they are just taking fentanyl or what they assume, what they’re actually putting in their body is something more complex.”
Mecklenburg County data shows that fentanyl is one of the leading causes of fatal overdose deaths among Black, white, and Hispanic residents. Of the 125 fatal overdose deaths in the Black community last year, about three-quarters involved fentanyl. Among white residents, fentanyl was involved in about 80% of overdose deaths. And in the Hispanic community, all but one of the 34 reported fatal overdoses last year involved fentanyl.
Dasgupta says some people turn to fentanyl and other powerful drugs to relieve physical or mental pain. But after using the drug for a while, he says people use it just to stop withdrawal.
“Fentanyl and any of the opioids change the receptors and the chemical messaging in your brain. And change the way you perceive pleasure and reward, Dasgupta said. "So, it's not like people are just using fentanyl to enjoy it or to get high; that's kind of maybe like an initial piece. What happens fairly quickly is that your body adapts to that chemical and incorporates it into its daily functioning.”
To tackle the opioid crisis, Mecklenburg County is expected to receive close to $75 million over the next 18 years from a multistate settlement with opioid makers. As for where the funds should go, Dasgupta points towards street outreach programs.
“Reaching the people at greatest risk of overdose involves working with community partners who actually know how to talk to people who use drugs,” Dasgupta said. “People who actually use drugs will listen to you for advice. It’s not the same if it comes from the doctor or a cop. You need people who can actually reach each other as peers.”
He said distrust of the medical establishment is an ongoing problem.
“It’s hard to get people to go in and see a doctor for their problems when the medical system has treated those same people very poorly in the past,” Dasgupta said.
The scientist is referring to Black and Hispanic residents. The two groups in Mecklenburg County have seen an increase in fatal overdose deaths each year between 2019 to 2023.
“They’ve had terrible experiences with doctors and nurses when they’ve gone to the emergency room. They find it very hard to get treatment when they need it,” Dasgupta said. “They’re told to come in six weeks when there’s an open slot. So, the medical establishment has repeatedly failed people who use drugs. So, there’s a natural distrust of these authorities.”
Distrust and dope
That distrust still lingers for some community members like Robert. The 64-year-old waited outside a resource center in east Charlotte. Robert was initially hesitant about giving his name.
"You ain’t no police?” Robert asked.
After addressing Robert's question, he opened up. WFAE is only using his first name to allow Robert to speak freely about his drug use and dealing.
Robert is an African American. He often comes to Queen City Harm Reduction for support with housing. The resource center also supports people who battle drug use. Something Robert knows about. Robert says he used and sold cocaine for several reasons.
“Pleasure, money. I made money off of dope,” Robert said. "I had been selling dope ever since I was 16 years old. I got into the pimp game when I was 16.”
Despite how harmful selling illegal drugs could be, Robert says he wasn't aware of its impact.
“I didn’t know what it was doing because it wasn’t talked about like that. See, cocaine wasn’t talked about like that back then,” Robert said. "Back then, cocaine was a rich man's habit, and the rich man was the white man. Heroin and cocaine came back into the Black neighborhoods in the 60s.”
Robert, who says he spent four years in prison, says he doesn’t deal anymore for several reasons.
“Life, death, prison time. Watching my sisters sell their bodies and be killed behind it,” Robert said. "I couldn’t take it no more.”
As for what he wants the county to do with the opioid settlement funds, he said: “Open up more treatment centers. They need to open up some treatment centers and be serious about it,” Robert said.
That’s part two of WFAE’s series that looks at why overdose deaths have risen sharply in recent years in Black and Hispanic communities. In part three, we explore two new programs that aim to tackle the opioid crisis and its effect on emergency departments. We also speak with doctors, those impacted by drug use, and explore the county plans with nearly $75 million in settlement funds they’re expected to receive over the next 18 years.
