September is National Recovery Month, a time to raise awareness about substance abuse and those struggling with addiction. At 352today.com, we’re committed to being Your Community Connection. That’s why we’re producing a special series of reports this week called Fighting Fentanyl. We’re examining the impact of the opioid on the 352 and what’s being done to combat it. We feel strongly that reporting should not just identify a problem but should also showcase solutions. If our reporting helps one person or one family, then we’ve accomplished our goal. If you or someone you love needs help, call 352-255-6985.
OCALA, FL (352today.com) – At 18 years old, Travis McAllister enlisted in the United States Army. He did his basic training at Fort Jackson outside Columbia, SC. After advanced training at Fort Lee, VA, he received his orders and headed off for Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA.
He was doing something he loved in the Army – working in food service as a cook.
About a year into his time in the service, he started having a problem with his foot. The Army docs said they could do surgery to correct it. The surgery left him in pain. A lot of it. The prescription? 20 milligrams of oxycodone.
“I figured out real quick, like, ‘Wow! I feel great. I want more of this. I want to keep taking more,’” said McAllister. So, he asked for a refill, and he ended up with three bottles in approximately a month and a half.
“I was just taking it. Getting that euphoria – that high,” said McAllister. “I was actually convinced the doctor is giving it to me, and it’s a prescription so I’m safe,” said McAllister.
About a year later, McAllister is medically discharged from the Army.
Over the next several years, he lands great jobs as a chef in high-end hotels in Clearwater Beach and Orlando. He’s grinding out 12, 14, 16-hour days in hot kitchens.
And still popping prescription pills.
Then, a relationship and a child.
“I didn’t know what these are… these are powerful drugs. I just knew the doctor gave it to me, and I was completely fine.”
Until he wasn’t.
McAllister was hooked on prescription pain meds and admits he actually started playing the system. He’d go to the dentist complaining his tooth hurt, and he’d get a prescription for Vicodin.
When he couldn’t get a prescription, he started seeking drugs on the street. “It just went downhill really fast,” reflected McAllister.
First, money problems.
Then, he says he started missing work because “buying drugs was more important than going to work.”
For five and a half years, McAllister was caught in the web of addiction.
And then, his family started falling apart. “I felt really horrible about what they were going through. They were suffering more than I was because of the life I was choosing to live. That was the biggest consequence.”
McAllister got help and got off the drugs. “March 8, 2015, was my first day of sobriety,” said McAllister.
Today at 37 years old, his personal crisis has turned into a professional calling.
As the Director of Recovery Support Services at SMA Healthcare, a mental health and substance abuse center, McAllister is on the frontlines of the fight against fentanyl.
WHAT IS FENTANYL
Fentanyl is a prescription narcotic used to treat chronic pain like that in cancer patients under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic and Sublimaze. People with prescriptions typically take it as a shot or a patch on their arm. A person may also take it through a throat lozenge or lollipop.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) describes fentanyl as a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive and comes in a variety of colors, shapes and forms – including powder and pills.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 110,511 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and poisonings in 2022, with almost 70% of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Only two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose.
The DEA says drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs to drive addiction and create repeat business. Many victims of fentanyl poisoning are unaware they ingested fentanyl.
“They’re [drug dealers] putting fentanyl in everything,” said Robin Lanier, VP of Marion County Services for SMA Healthcare. “Someone may think that they’re just smoking marijuana, but they’re testing positive for fentanyl. Or they took a pressed pill that they thought was Xanax, and it had fentanyl in it. So that’s the scary thing today. People are using drugs, and they don’t even realize the drugs they’re using.”
DIALING IN ON THE 352
“Communities of similar size… our numbers are pretty high for opioid overdose,” said Hilary Jackson, Director of Prevention for the Marion County Children’s Alliance.
In 2022, she said Marion County alone had 187 overdose deaths. Due to inconsistencies in data collection, it’s hard to know how many of those were fentanyl-related, but Jackson believes it’s a majority.
And while no one is exempt from this addiction, Jackson says the overdose deaths are predominantly white males ranging in age from 24 to 33.
RELATED: Substance use prevention programs help make Marion County students anti-drug advocates
That’s why prevention is another key step in lowering these numbers in Marion County. Jackson also oversees Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) clubs across the county, which encourage students to make safe decisions about substance use and advocate for the community.
REMOVING BARRIERS TO HELP
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to treat addiction, says Lanier. Successfully kicking the habit is different for each person.
That’s the mindset behind Beacon Point, a one-stop campus offering a wide array of services to treat behavioral health and substance abuse. Beacon Point receives a majority of its funding from the Marion County Hospital District (MCHD).
“The Hospital District got the idea to develop this model where there’s no wrong door. If you show up, we’ll treat you,” said Lanier.
Beacon Point opened in 2020 and is located at 717 SW Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.
MCHD’s website says “the providers at Beacon Point consist of multiple agencies from around the State, each working together as a multidisciplinary team to treat the whole-person in a comprehensive and individualized manner.”
“The hospital district has really tried to shape that whole system of care so that there aren’t any gaps in services in our community,” said Debra Velez, Chief Operating Officer for the Marion County Hospital District. “The idea is that anybody that’s underinsured or uninsured can get any treatment there – any type of service there – for free.”
The goal is to remove the barriers to treatment.
“Some of the biggest struggles for people seeking treatment is that – ‘Everywhere I turn, there’s a barrier. I can’t get there. I don’t have the money. I don’t know how.’ All you have to do is get to Beacon Point, and everything you need from there is taken care of,” said Jackson.
The services and the partners who provide them include:
SMA Healthcare – 24/7 substance abuse and recovery support services
- Medication assisted treatment
- Detox facilities (in-patient and residential)
- Peer support services
- Outpatient behavioral health
- Family medicine services to treat a variety of health conditions
- Dental health services
- Services for substance-exposed newborns
- Re-entry services for inmates
McAllister says Beacon Point is unique. Before coming to Ocala, he worked in Kissimmee. “The community here is a lot easier to work with and to get things done to help address the situation more accurately and faster,” said McAllister. He said in other communities, he sees care providers putting business interests first. “Here in Marion [County] we have all these different organizations coming together, and they just want to work together to stop this from getting worse. We’re putting people’s recovery first.”
“Once you get deep into addiction, you become convinced it’s all you deserve or want.”
-Travis McAllister
“The worst thing from our perspective is that someone came for help, and they didn’t get it,” said Lanier. “When you’re ready for that help. We want to be able to give it to you right then because we may not get another chance.”
For a full list of resources available in Marion County, click here.
HOPE IS POSSIBLE, RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE
McAllister had hit rock bottom.
He’d been evicted.
His car was dead.
He was days away from being fired from his job.
Fentanyl wasn’t an issue when he was using. Despite that, he says he came close to overdosing many times.
What worked for him was therapy and receiving support from long-term members in recovery. “I’m one of the lucky ones to have another chance.”
He’s turned his lived experience into a career. “I had to hit the bottom to reach my potential.”
And, he’s multiplying the impact of that second chance. “Somebody was there for me early on in my recovery. If they weren’t there for me, I don’t know where I’d be right now. So I want to do the same for others.”
For those who have a loved one dealing with addiction, McAllister has this advice: “Be there for people. Never hold it against them when they make mistakes. People are people. We make mistakes and we need support.”
GET INVOLVED: The 6th annual Ocala Recovery Festival will be held this Saturday, September 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Tuscawilla Park at 829 NE Sanchez Ave. Hear testimonies from those in recovery. Get connected with community resources.