CPP Event Explored Region’s Opioid Abuse Crisis

Sarah Spier, a high-achieving young person with big ambitions and a bright future, never expected drug abuse to send her life into a dangerous spiral.

But when Spier, a thriving Hollywood make-up artist, found herself in a relationship with an addict she desperately wanted to save, she drifted into what became a heroin addiction “that led me to the depths of despair and almost cost me my life.”

Now a consultant and founder of a support company, Follow the Poppy, Spier shared her story as the keynote speaker at the inaugural College of Professional Programs’ Community Engagement Speaker Series event on Jan. 30.

Held in the PUB NCR, the event also brought together several regional experts who joined a panel to discuss ongoing opioid crisis. Panelists included Dr. Francisco Velázquez, health officer at the Spokane Regional Health District; John Nowels, sheriff of Spokane County; and Tricia Hughes, PhD, senior director of counseling and wellness services at EWU. The event was moderated by Rie Kobayashi, PhD, professor and director of aging studies for the EWU School of Social Work.

During her keynote address, Spier recalled becoming “numb” while wanting to save someone she loved —  not realizing that she’d be “killing herself” in the process. With the help of her mother, who still loved, supported and had hope for her, Spier embraced recovery and found herself again.

Spier is now a system changer who is focused on a mission to “advocate, educate, and spread hope,” she said.

During the panel discussion following Spier’s keynote, moderator Kobayashi posed questions for the panelists, creating a conversation that shed light on local addiction-related challenges, as well as the services available to meet them.

EWU’s Hughes said that the university will host “recovery ally meetings” starting this spring quarter. The meetings will help anyone struggling with addiction, she said, to have a supportive community. She added that it’s important for those who have someone in their lives who is battling addiction to know that they can be advocates and intervene to help.

During his comments, Dr. Velázquez detailed a history of the opioid crisis, noting that over the past 20 years there has been a major increase in opioid abuse — one that has accelerated over the previous 10 to 12 years.

Fentanyl,  Dr. Velázquez added, has recently become a particularly dangerous and heavily abused narcotic, one with the greatest risk of overdose for users. Regional opioid overdoses continue to rise, he said, with over 60% happening in homes or apartments.

Later in the discussion, Sheriff Nowels reported that in 2023 there were 290 opioid overdose deaths reported in Spokane County, with 90 of the fatalities among unhoused individuals. (Unfortunately, Dr. Velázquez added, older area residents aged 50 to 80 are also increasingly using opioids— and sometimes overdosing.)

The Spokane Sheriff’s Office is invested in finding solutions, Nowels said, adding that, in his view, part of the problem stems from the public using medication to solve problems that might be more effectively addressed by other means. He offered that extreme caution is needed for medication use.

Nowels said, also, that fire and law enforcement professionals are spending more and more of their time responding to situations caused by opioid abuse. Local first responders, he said, receive several calls daily reporting people who are high on Fentanyl, sometimes so high they pass out and drive their cars off the road.

For her part, Spier urged people to overcome the shame and secrecy of opioid addition and seek help. “Don’t live in shame, don’t hide this,” she said. “Share your story and own it because it will be powerful and impactful.”

A video-recording of the presentation can be viewed online.

Next Community Engagement Speaker Series event:

From Campus to Career | Tuesday, April 22 | 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m. | Showalter Auditorium “Insights from Top Leaders on Workforce Skills” will feature leaders from different industries across the region. A reception will follow in the Showalter Rotunda.

Story written by Brynne Irish, student publicity assistant in CPP.