Kayla began using fentanyl as a teenager in North Carolina, but survived even as more than 110,000 US residents died of overdoses in 2023. Overdose deaths reduced by 25% across the US and 35% in North Carolina in 2024 due to harm reduction policies centered on health. LEAD, Fayetteville’s program, steers customers toward treatment, not jail, helping individuals like Kayla recover. Important shifts are higher medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, drug test access, and fewer young fentanyl consumers. North Carolina’s lawsuits against opioid manufacturers also gave billions toward prevention and treatment, though inequities remain, particularly for minorities and laggard states.
Let’s Pray:
Dear God, we pray that this opioid epidemic in America be relinquished, in Jesus’ name. We pray that Kayla and those like her can find and remain in recovery. Holy Spirit, come upon the people in America, that they may find peace and joy in Your Spirit, and not in the drugs that grieve You. In Jesus’ Holy name, we ask that more programs and organizations be made to bring resolution to addiction and drug usage, not just in recovery, but in Your Word, and in Your truth. Lord, let Your Holy Spirit recover the hearts of those whose hearts have been hardened by trauma and negative experiences. Amen.
“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.”
~Jeremiah 33:6
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