Fentanyl could be in the cocaine, oxycontin, or even marijuana that’s sold in your neighborhood. Tracy, Cara, and the Red Table Talk community discuss how the infiltration of fentanyl has impacted their lives. Guest Debra Fields-Harris has watched co-workers and her own cousin struggle through addiction, and she shares about a friend she lost to marijuana laced with fentanyl. April Rhine reveals she has taken fentanyl but only because it was prescribed to her. In this episode, the virtual red table debates whether or not people pray over their drugs, if “be careful with your drugs” is enough of a warning, and Tracy shares about the time her face was melting?
This episode discusses drug use and overdose, which can be triggering to some. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction and needs information, please visit www.samhsa.gov or call the national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP for 24 hour free and confidential help.
Hosts Information:
Cara Pressley
@thecareercheerleader Cara’s Instagram
@TheCareerCheerleader Cara’s Facebook
@the1cheering4U Cara’s Twitter
@FeelinSuccessful Cara’s TikTok
Cara’s Website
Tracy T. Rowe
@tracytrowe Tracy’s Instagram
@troweandco Tracy’s Facebook
@tracytrowe Tracy’s Twitter
@tracytrowe Tracy’s TikTok
Tracy’s Website
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LET’S RED TABLE THAT is produced by Red Table Talk Podcasts. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Jada Pinkett Smith, Fallon Jethroe and Ellen Rakieten. PRODUCER Kyla Carneiro. ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Yolanda Chow. EDITORS AND AUDIO MIXERS Calvin Bailiff and Devin Donaghy. PHOTOGRAPHY Lee Salter Creative Firm. MUSIC from Epidemic Sound. LET’S RED TABLE THAT is in partnership with iHeartRadio.
This episode discusses drug use and overdose, which can be triggering to some. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction and needs information, please visit www dot s A, m h s A dot gov or call the National Helpline at one eight hundred six six to h E l P for twenty four hour free and confidential help. Hey y'all, Hey, what's up? And welcome to Let's Red Table that I'm Tracy t Row and I'm Carl Pressley. Listen, how are you feeling to day? Tracy? So amazing? Every day amazing. That's how I'm feeling. For me. You know, I already got a little jingle, So every day amazing. Because it's clean up time, everybody do your part. My clean up has been a little slow. I've been a little slow movement, a little bit everything. But let me take you. Okay, you know how you just touch one thing and then moved to the bank. But the big project I've been working on my backyard. So now let me tell you what I'm doing. Okay, Okay, tell us about it. Last year this time, where were we quarantined? Oh, come on, Carl. Last year this time we were getting ready to go somewhere fun. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The years of COVID have blurred together. Excuse me, Yes, yes, it is almost our anniversary of Yes, yes, that up going to the house. We went to the big house, y'all, and we ain't talking about jail. We went to the smith House for three years. The Lord is such a blessed be here for the entire rt T. The backyard was beautiful, and so I was inspired. I'm working on the backyard. It's literally changing the furniture that's in the patio, furniture in the backyard, and upgrading some other stuff. So we are in progress right now. So I'm gonna keep you close because let me tell you, I'm gonna be proud. I feel like a before and after. It needs to happen. We got but like, we've been in this house for ten years, and so some of the stuff that was there it's ten years old or older. Well, no, it makes sense. I did the same type of thing in COVID. I did a whole like yard re hall and don't you follow me on Instagram? Yeah, you got a lot going on on. I got a whole little TV show called Outside with Carra where I go outside, and I examined the bugs though, because this is what it is. I examined the books the bugs and the squirrels that they do a lot in the yard, and I'm always out there creating and resting and relaxing. Okay, what does Bella have to say about these books? Bella, she's no leaving yard with me when she's home part time she is. She is the part time dog. She is the part time dog. She is home. It is summertimes, so we know she's gonna take some longer walks in the evening. Who knows that she'll come back. She stayed with her second family. But yeah, so I'm outside and I examined the books. Over to day. I found a praym Mansis that was dope. Yes, alright, but you know what we're gonna hear about this episode. This episode was incredibly informative, but it was equally heartbreaking car hearing about how the poison how fitting All, has infiltrated recreational drugs and killed so many people. For those who don't know exactly what fenton All is, it's a synthetic opioid and it's used pharmaceutically to treat severe pain like for advanced cancer patients, and it is fifty to one hundred times more potent than morphine according to the c d C. That's some serious potency. Okay, but the heartbreak from me. I loved Michael kay Williams. I thought he was such a phenomenal talent. To lose him like that, there were several moments, and then to see the heartbreak that his nephew had and to find him. And Olivia's story, where do we it's allowed to unpack with this episode? What was something super impactful to you? Even get into it. Olivia's story broke my heart because what would have been something that you and I could have done back in the day. Sneaking out hooking up with some guy would have just been a story we would have told our girlfriends. She literally lost her life because of it, and the hurt oh and her mother and her father. It just it was just heartbreaking. Not even just Olivia, but Kate friends and one night woke up and was paralyzed herself. I got something to say about that. Now, I already noticed such a subject for you, because I felt like she's at the table she was. It's still a little nonchalant in some conversations. Is that what you thought? It felt like it right. We're gonna get into the comments later. Don't worry about it. I just think about how there's such a ripple effect, how many people were impacted by those stories. Is just the multiplying factor of heartbreak for me. Shout out to Gammy Willow and Jada, you guys did a really good job. Oh yeah, Oh, they're touching a hard topic this season. Who had the meeting and sale? We're digging deep this year. I think that's what's happening with the pandemic. Absolutely, we've had time to be introspective and dick deep and say what is really going on, what is really happening with myself, what's happening with my neighbor, what's happening with my family? And then what do you plan on doing with your life? The awareness is necessary. People need to understand the dangers in general before they go out there and try to solve their problems another way. Now it's time to hear from you our community. This week, we asked our online Red Table Talk community. After learning about the dangers of fitting all these drugs, have you reconsidered recreational drug use or had conversations about staying safe with your loved ones. Here are some of your answers. Carl, you want to go first. I see that. I heard Jason said everybody I know is on drugs. They want to die, obviously, and they do not want help. It's hard to say that so directly like that, but I understand you, Jason. It seems like some people out here two sheets to the wind, and some people will say, but I think some people truly feel like they don't have a choice. I think that's what it is. You think they don't have a choice. I think some people feel like they don't have a choice, like they may not know other alternatives, or they may know that I did that last weekend, so I'll do it again, or the people that are around you are doing it, so you go ahead and do what's around you, do what you see. Yeah, that's tough. Maggie Evans shout out to you, Memphis Sister friends. Red Table Talk community member said the only drug I've ever done is a couple of pot gummies when I was freaking out because my dog was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I made it forty eight years without a single drug. Those gummies were bio and I'll never do it again. That's my entire personal experience with drugs. I think recreational drugs, by and large, she says, should be legalized. Our drug laws are stupid and disproportionately affect people of color. A man of that, Maggie. If you're going to use them, then you have to make an informed choice and accept that your use may result in your death. Unless you know one hundred percent of the supply chain that created that product, you are rolling the dice. That's literally why I've never done drugs, except for those damn dispensary gummies barf emoji. I didn't want to wind up brain damage or worse. Maggie. You had a lot to say, and that was a lot to say. That was true, Maggie. We feel you. I was scared away from drugs too. I've heard about that story of the basketball player I can't remember his name. Yes, yes, one time and was gone len Bias. It was before my time, but I definitely came up and heard that story over and over again. Yeah, it was key and just me thinking twice whenever I was out, not like people were doing lines and colak at the party but it was definitely something in the back of my head. Another comment we have is I'm scared to death about using any drug that has not been prescribed for the use of treating an illness or condition. There can even be adverse effects of prescribed drugs, So why would you trust street drugs from folks who were trying to make as much money as possible by extending in stretching the amount of the drug for their greater profit. To me, it's a no brainer not to use drugs in a recreational way. You may only get one opportunity to make that decision, and not from Diane Feeling Cook. Thank you, Dane. In our communities, I hear you too. People do not have your best interest in mind. I think we're gonna tap into that a little bit as well, like intentional drug use and do you trust the person you're getting it from. So many things to factor in and consider before you even use something. We feel your Dianne. Yeah, Diane Feeling Cook is right. I'm with her in the heck. I can tell you I don't even want drugs that have been prescribed to me if they're too strong. I'm gonna tell you something, cal I took. I had a secret thumb one time, and what I tell you, I took that prescription narcotic and I felt like my face was melting. No thanks, wait wait wait wait did you say melting? I promised you taking it was oxy. Okay, okay, it was too too strong for you. It wasn't too strong. If anybody ever tells you I'm popping peels, just know that is It's the worst line they ever told, because that is not happening. When I took that dog on oxy that was ride for melting pain management after surgery. I sat there and I promise you, I felt like my right side of my face was melting off. Did you touch it? I didn't touch it. I was like, my face is melting. This is this is your example right here. I don't know who needs to hear this. You don't have to live it to learn from it. Please know that Tracy's face was melting one time and she didn't last. I mean, how many examples do you need? Okay? All right? Well, thank you for sharing your story as well, Tracy, and thank you so I read table talk community. Man. We appreciate you always chiming in and giving us your comments. We're gonna take a quick break, but when we get back, we'll be joined by two guests from our Red Table Talk community. We're welcoming to fellow RTT community members onto let's Red Table bat. I'm so glad that Debora Fields Harris is at the virtual Red Table today. Debora is actually joining us from mrs it Be, where she works as an HR manager for a manufacturing company. Deborah has witnessed the dangers of fitting all lace drugs at her job and in her family. So seeing that up close personal relationship with that she can actually see and share with us today how deeply harmful it is. So thank you Debora for coming and for being willing to just share your experience with us today. Hello, everyone, excited to be here. Hey Debro, thank you so much for being here. And I'm excited to introduce our other amazing guest, April Ryan, who has been a part of our Red Table Talk Memphis Sister Friends community since two thousand eighteen. I'm really grateful that you're able to share your unique perspective on drug use as you have tried councling our cottage. We're gonna talk about that, but only because they've been prescribed to you. So thank you so much for being with us on less Red Table that April. Thank you, thank you, Yeah, thank you both, thank you both. We appreciate you, guys, says the part what where we go? What of the show? Where we reveal which moments made us pause, rewind, take that back and listen again. Wait what, Cara, we had some moments for our wait what moments? Let's talk about it. Yeah, we had a lot of moments in this episode, so let's just kick it off by discussing with our guests the first moment, which is when Jada asked Gami if she would have stopped using drugs if she'd known that finnol was on the streets. Do you think that would have helped you stop? Absolutely not really, I'm so glad that it wasn't because I'm o d before I would definitely be dead and that there's no question in my mind about that, which is heartbreaking from me because first of all, we love Gam, we love all of our people friends, and just this episode brought a lot of those things to like just knowing they wouldn't have stopped no matter what. So, did you notice how Gam gave you a certain look? Before Jada asked that question, she really was looking at her like, do you want to really ask me that? That moment right there really touched for me simply because my mom, as beautiful as she was and did the best that she did, she did have her own struggles, and drugs was one of them. Just this gammy head. She was addicted to crack. She was one of those functioning drug gags where she held down a government job. Once the job found out about it, they sent her to rehab and she got better. That really touched home. And I put myself in that situation and wonder if my mom knew this powerful drug was out there, was she had successfully gone through rehab. Yeah, I appreciate the Gamy said no because she was just knee jerk, honest. But if you're in the midst of addiction, I guess there's really no way to say, well, I'm going to wait and not do that one versus this one. If you're literally truly pursuing a high. Never what do you think it resonates with me growing up and South Memphis. And I don't know if you recall my cousin Robin, she has been on drugs probably twenty five years since she was about ninety or twenty. She went from crack to meth and then meth to heroine. And she's had some mental situations and severe medical episodes in her life and now she's unfit and all and her mom is just going through And so recently she came to Memphis, her family visited. She ended up getting left behind, and my heart is going out because memphisis not the place to be when you are drug used or you addicted to drugs, being out there on the streets, and like right now, we don't know where she is. And he had gone back home with her family, maybe they would know where she is. They know where the drug house is. This girl looks like the Night of the Living Dead. And that's where it resonates with me dealing with this girl, and that's where it's sitting with me. First of all, I appreciate both of you being so honest and sharing your experiences with such candor, because it's not easy. It's not easy having family members on drugs. What are the weight What moments for me that just I'm gonna tell you all the truth got all over me. Was when Kate said, after losing three friends, now y'all saw this episode. Three of her friends were dead from fitting All, and then her warning was like, maybe I lived to talk about this because people mess up. Man, It's okay to start from the bottom and you know, kind of dig out. I don't know, to be careful with your drugs. I don't know about you all, but I want to know from y'all, because I'm gonna tell you from me. I was like, what the heckle check on? How are you talking about? Wait careful to drugs? If anybody could be a thing gonna advocate for someone to say, I don't advocate using drugs. Here's what happened to me, and just be a little bit more aggressive with the whole message and warning about how powerful and dangerous fitting All is and that she's seen it firsthand. She literally almost died herself. But to say be careful with your drugs, okay, So y'all can tell how I felt about it, because I was on fire when I saw that. Tell me what was your reaction, especially for both of you having loved ones who are on drugs, How does that resonate with you? What she said with loved ones, they just will not admit an addict will never admit to their problem. And that's one thing is they'll say, oh, I'm not a user, or oh I'm not on drugs. The first step is if you want to be out of it, you would first admit to the problem. And see they're never they will never get help because they were in denial. That's my biggest problem. This might be why she just said be careful with your drugs, like she literally watched three friends pass away and we're still talking about it as if just be careful versus girl, this is deadly exactly. That's exactly what I was gonna say. Maybe that's the point of view. She was looking at it, like she knows that people are still going to you. People are still going to abuse. At least, if you're gonna do it, be careful with it. I feel where you're coming from, Tracy. But at least she did heat a warning be careful, get it from a steady person, get it from someone you trust. You know what I'm saying. But you know I'm gonna ask this question. I'm not trying to be funny, but y'all think people pray for the drugs. Okay, wait, I believe my cousin takes the Lord went there in the crack house. I believe it. I'm talking about it because the reality is to your point, April clean needles and things like that. Wait a minute, Wait a minute, wait, it's a wait. What within the wait? What do people pray the way they pass? So you're saying it's prey puff puff pan, it should be? Should it not? Could it be? You know some friends in COVID that were smoking with each other and I was like, y'all still y'all still sharing? They were smoking and COVID you're still sharing blunts and COVID still sharing. But see, I think they just take the Lord with them and they say, well, just be careful. I'm just what I'm hearing. This is what I'm hearing. I'm gonna I'm gonna say this. If people ain't praying over their drugs with fil being put in everything they need started absolutely need, because this is the thing. Even if they're not stopping to call on the Lord and actually truthfully pray, you can't tell me that someone isn't, at least for a split second thinking I hope nothing that because they still just want to get high. I think they're just clouded and disillusioned by the actual drug. Of course, I get it. I get what you're saying, like they're in pursuit of the high. It's not that anyone that is addicted is intentionally trying to kill themselves. I'm with you, I'm tracking with you alone. The same topic is the other weight what moment, which is learning how fenton al actually works when you ingest any opioid and needs. Initially you get that sense of euphoria, but then your drive to breathe is gonna go down or stop breathing, and that's actually what kills you. Fentinel can do that within a matter of ten minutes or so. I don't know about you guys, Like I think, we hear all these stories fitting all in different drugs, and we just assume it goes from use to a passing. But I had no idea that it slows down your breathing until you completely stop. So knowing how it works is also just important. Before you were impacted in your families or personally by this drug or just use in general, did you know or have any awareness of what this would even look like. Y'all recall that Prince was having a medical condition. Prince suffered with hip pain. With all the years of performing in the heels, he suffered with pains in his stinkles and pains and his hips, and he really needed hip replacement surgery. His medical professionals had recommended it, and he did not have that surgery, and he needed it to order to be able to have a functional life. So he lived. It was prescribed sent on and that's how he died, was an overdose of it. I did not know that he was prescribed it, but wasn't what he had synthetic if I remember correctly. And that was the issue. And here's the thing. It only takes what a small amount. Look at a little fifteen year old Olivia great sand Words took one pell and it took her off the face of planet forever. She didn't overdose. There was grains of sand worth of fentanyl that killed. Oh, bless her heart, and she was already little. It's important to know as much as you can. Well, what do we know. It's tasteless, it's odorless, is powerful, it's replicated, it's generic. It's just scary. And I won't officially stay here. Tracy t Row is not telling you be careful with your drugs. Tracy t row is saying like, don't do it. I don't want to be generic and say just say no. But I am saying like, wow, take key to what's going on around us. And to your point, I think April, you said that Kate was maybe being cautionary and realistic at the same time. The thing that y'all said that I didn't factor in was that devil what you said about the nile and that she may not be able to see what other people see because from her perspective, it's different depending on what level of drug she has or not having. Different take a little bit different take on that. I am sickle cell disease. That's worst case scenario. So my experience with these payments, I know a lot about them. They started me off on demron at a very young age, got off of that. I've been through addiction, so I don't like taking narcotics and they're required when I'm having severe pain, so I know quite a bit about it. They went through a series of medicine, pay medicine narcotics to try to find a pay medicine that works for me. A lot of stuff I'm allergic to. One of the medicines they tried was morphine. Trying to get me off of Demerov found out I'm definitely allergic to morphine. Yeah, I went into full arrest. I was dead. Was dead. So when we know morphine codeneen fentcinel is actually one of the ones I'm allergic to, because once I became an adult, they tried that as well, but they tried that in a patch form where it's slow releases and through the skin, and I still had very bad effects from it. So it's a drug not to play with at all. So these grains are saying they're not joking about that. What did y'all think about the episode? Like, how did you connect with it? I connected with it again, like Olivia, I had a friend that had been through rehab. He was on the straight and narrow. He was doing this thing and just one night a party and with some friends. I thought he was doing just some coke and the coke was laced with fitting. Luckily no one died, but unfortunately he did have a relapse. So even if you think, like I said, get it from someone you trust. He trusted these people. These were his friends that he parted with on a normal time. Because that makes me think about Kate's experience. It was kind of their normal experience to do the comedic thing and after the set doing coke and she just when she said, she was a baby with it, so she that was probably why she a little, just a little something, one skittle isn't like the whole pack. It's basically what she's saying. That's her heart. But how about you, how did you relate to this full episode? I have a connections, I think with all the scenarios, but one recently one of my church members who is out in the streets but she's had been coming into the church was recently found dead with an appearent overdose of marijuana. And she came to the ministry a couple of years ago. She worked in the music ministry and with the choir with me and I would pick her up and you can tell a drug user, which she always denied it. We'd always try to get help with some of us would even take her to her treatments. She was at the church volunteering with our feeding program two weeks ago and here Saturday night they found her in a car, her and another man both I'm responsive and a parent marijuana overdues Mariana. That's the first I've heard of that. No, you know what, everything everything. Yeah, I'm so sorry for your loss. That is just heartbreak. Game safe to say that she and the person that was with her were probably thinking they were just getting high from smoking marijuana. So that's the biggest thing. If you're thinking that you're just gonna get a regular type of high, you can't smell it, can't detect it, you do not see it until it's too late. Double. Let's transition into I guess from a personal perspective to this professional perspective. We know you've been an HR professional for a twenty five plus years, so you've seen it all. As far as workplace issues, How has fitting all impacted your job and your coworkers. I'm thinking like, as an HR professional, my main role is just to educate employees and educate the managers about drug abuse. But one at my facility that we're having problems with is heroin use. And we had a couple of cases where we've done some reasonable suspicion drug tests and they're sitting all in Heroin mixed has been a big negative impact on our work place. With any type of drug use heroine and in senting all use. There's mass of absentee ism. People are coming to work in paired running too walls, being a little confused. So my role in this is I'm getting managers trained and knowing now how to spot and identify and see what behaviors, what things that you can look at to to spot out that. My role is not to say you're a drug user. We look at a drug user as it's a medical condition. It's not just this person as if they need some assistance. About a month ago, had a guy was at the job and they had reported that he was one employee that he seemed a little bit agitated and he really was like out of his self, stand up on the chair, not knowing where he was. And then I end up him been having to call and actually do a live consultation with the center and actually give him to a treatment facility. We got e a p got a bed for him to go ahead and come there. Every boy, it's in take and be admitted. What you think happened? He checked himself out, He never showed, he didn't even he never he never got his help, and he never came back to work. I just hear the heartache for you. I hear how much you want to help, So I just want to applaud you and your efforts and having such a caring heart. I know a lot of HR professionals get a bad rep agree for not really caring about people. But I just want to say thank you because easily that's not my problem. Right, let's paperwork for me and moved on. Yeah, I love that. I love that. And we learned that Michael Kin Williams, Oh, my gosh, y'all his nephew. This just this just tore me apart seeing his nephew, because you know how much you love your aunts and uncles, right, and Michael Kay Williams nephew was no different. But we know that he struggled with drug use from much of his life, and though he thankfully was able to enjoy some years of sobriety, we know that he did not have long term success. April, you come from the topic from a unique perspective because we talked about that with pain management, and so we know that you have to make sure that you don't fall prey to addiction. You mentioned the dem roll and trying to get yourself winged off the demarroll. How do you guard yourself against the misuse of the drug and the dangers of the drugs From a medical perspective, transitioning from childcare to a dull care. I was blessed to be in the hands of one of the greatest hematologists I'll ever have. She trained me about sickle cell. She trained me how to taper down off the pain me is after coming out of the hospital. Along with that, as I got older and mature, I started to become more natural and holistic. I wanted to come off a lot of the pain medicine, a lot of the chemicals that are made by big farmer. So I started doing my own research on natural things to help with my pain, my inflammation, my blood pressure, my blood sugar. So I drink tumeric tea, ginger tea. I do a lot of disciental ty, incorporate sentiment, a lot of sentiment into my thing that helps with blood pressure and blood sugar. I still take some of the medicines. Again, like I said, the doctor taught me how to tap her down. So there's a whole system. I'm glad you implemented those steps. You have to find what works for you. I think that's takeaway for anybody, even my son bless these young men's hard. I have to tell him often you have addiction in your family. Sometimes you have to be honest about what's on both sides exactly. You may see your friends with a certain tolerance here or there, but that doesn't mean it's always going to be the same for you, and we right have to find what works for us. That's smart for you, car to let your son know he's genetically predisposed, so he's gonna be careful. That's good. That's good. Therever you have gone through it, you have gone through it at work, with your family member, with your church member. It's been amazingly challenging for you. How are you coping with that? As someone who's having these vicarious experiences that are continuously an ound you. I just have my prayer to make it through then encouraging myself through it, because even though that person lost their lives, there's somebody else out there that's gonna need help. You've got to provide that same encouragement. You've gotta be able to not look down at them and not look funny at them, and have a heart that will let me ask you since you've had the personal and professional like perspective. If you were to tell our listeners, what is something that they should look for, and then what's an immediate stuff they should take if they suspect that someone may have a problem, what would you suggest? I think that you see as an individual that's a user, you're gonna see a lot of that stun pin. I look the confused look and they're talking to themselves. Now this recent family member that's a user. They have this thing where they talk and they do that. Okay, that's not the first person that I saw. The young man at my job was having that same in its conversation. They do something with their talk. I don't know if it's with their teeth or their tongue. It's an involuntary action, absolutely side effect of the drugs. That's good to know. So under the National fin and All Awareness Foundation, they have a toll free number that you can call. If you see someone you have a family member that is exemplifying those symptoms, you can call and get help for them or give them the number to call if they'll take their number. That's good. Yeah, that's very helpful information. Thank you so much for that. I know we talked about Kate's story and her takeaway from her experience implies that she plans to continue using, which seems mindboggling to us. But you know, you have a cousin who was an active user and has had similar experiences, right, could you tell us about that and how do you feel A reason experience is this person's parents found them not breathing. They called the ambulance, they were hospitalized. They actually died, but they got them back. Was in the hospital for two weeks until Miracus was this person wakes up. My aunt said that they said the person was going to have some brain damage because there was part to where they were responsible for so long. But nonetheless, out of the two weeks the person recovered, she called and said they're saying that they're gonna let her out of the hospital. She was trying to walk from the hospital and after everything that she had gone through, they's thinking she's trying to walk to go home. She's trying to walk to get outside to a person that's outside to take her back to the drug house. But the hospital was like, no, we can't release you. In order for you to be released, you have to go to your step program. She had been admitted to a rehab center and they think they were going to have rehab for sort of six weeks, but with those what fourteen days that she's there, she's having the withdrawals. But her next step was you are not going to live of if you don't go and get treatment. But her choice was to go get in the car with this person and go back to the red house, go to this drug dealer whomever it is that suppliner with that drugs. She'd say, I don't have a problem, I don't need rehab. I'm fine because she's living her best life. Let's be honest. In their mind, they are, They're receiving the high and that is the only goal. I'm literally feeling super emotional now thinking about my family members that I know that are on drugs and the struggle with addictions, And it is so hard just hearing your experience, knowing that how much you will for someone right when someone's in the hospital and you hear there in the hospital. You get on prayer calls, getting rare circles, try to get folks to healing, but you don't really factor in that person. Whatever got them to the addiction is what keeps them with the addiction, and it's easier for us when we're on the outside end out knowing the pain. Just I'm just looking for that same high they're looking for that they wanted, that same high that they'll never get, even though y'all know I wrote Kate Harror and her comment about be careful what your drugs. Yeah, I think it was very telling now that I've hear what we're saying here, if she's in the midst of whatever she's grappling with and her own use, and hearing Dever talk about the people who are saying that they don't have a problem even though they look like living dead, that there's some lack of self assessment that she hasn't done yet. And she talked about these letters to her soul, which I thought was a beautiful moment in the episode. My therapist is giving this tip, sit down and write a note to yourself from your soul, like your soul doesn't judge you, like your soul wants to be proud of you. And then right back and forth. And I never spent time alone with my thoughts like that and terrified me so like when I'm having trouble now or I beat myself up. I'll do thinking about some of the mistakes you beat yourself up about, because we all have those. What would your letters say? Mine would be short and sweet, yours would be April. What would you say? Love more and forgive often, and that not just go for people that have wronged you, but for yourself as well. Forgive yourself for whatever turmoil, whatever pain, whatever wrong was done to you. Forgive yourself. That's a big one. That's a big one. Forgive, So love more and forgive often. You're right, Wow, that was good. I love that. Thanks. If you wanted to say something, just say something prolific. I don't know everybody, just say did all right? You can't do anything until you forgive yourself. I can't even come behind that. April, thank you for your poetic words. That was beautiful. We appreciate that. Let's shift into Olivia's story, which was just as devastating because these other ones that we have shared, she was just so young, so she clearly could not have understood the risk that she was truly taking. Last April, the night before Easter, Olivia told her mom she was having a sleepover with a friend and ended up meeting an eighteen year old male she was chatting with online. He gave her a painkiller that was unknowingly laced with fentanyl. Soon after Olivia was dead. Olivia was I mean, she was young, so of course she was impressionable, and it is so unfortunate that that's what happened in her ending. And she's not the only one. Like this happens all the time, Like y'all know, I have that twenty year old so as a young male, I'm hoping that he's not trying to influence anyone, and then God forbid, if he was, it would be laced, you know what I mean. But it just in general, parents, grandparents even trying to decipher if I should let my child go and meet their friends or should I let them go out? Are they telling me the truth? Like all these anxieties we're already thinking about. It's a hard one. You have a granddaughter, Deborah, what kinds of conversations are you having with her about drugs and keeping herself safe? I constantly educate my granddaughter in reference to I said, you heard about this, You heard about finer? Oh? Yes, Mom knew about it. She's like I know about thing. Everybody know. You're supposed to stay away from it. I said, but what if somebody's open you a joint, you don't know what's what does it look like to stay away from? What does it look like if you open it up? You wouldn't you be able to tell that it's in it? Could you tell? Was there anything that you wish that they would have discussed? Any questions that you think that they could have asked the guests to share in the episode, anything else you wanted to hear more about. I think what should have been talked about is a lot of people are doing marijuana. It's legal medicinely in recreation some places. Keywords if people are gonna do this stuff, One, make fit neil harder to get First of all, why are you able to get it off the black market? House it getting on the black market? Number one? Number two, if people are gonna smoke marijuana, make it legal everywhere where you can continue to regulate and people know they're not getting anything lace there. No, they're getting us ativa or indica or whatever the case may be. I also think they should have looked at more of the medical side of it. A lot of these people that are addicted on drugs started because of an injury and the doctor pros. That's interesting because they didn't talk about the prescription perspective and what your experience is. That was one of the drugs that they gave you to experiment with your pain management, and how your reaction to it was not positive and how you had to pursue something else. So you're right as you said. I think people forget you just hear fitting on like it's bad. Yeah, you think it's a true actual it's actually a druga exactly for the actual condition. I think it's super important too. Like I tell my son, No, you have addiction in your family. We have to pay attention to that and maybe talk to our family, use our village and does this impact us? I can tell you you all have hit me in every way. I have got you like whoa. This has been amazing, Carl. Have we like informed and educated and uplifted it and in spirit and faith and truth and life? Hello, come on here, listen. The rude word of inspired is in spirit and that's definitely where we were today. I learned some new things, different perspectives to just keep us talking and keeping the conversation going. Let's keeppreciate because you gave me some insight. Okay, I really appreciate that I came off my soapbox, so thank you. There's so many more moments we could discuss, but it's that time. Our beloved guests are fantastic. Let's Red Table that community members, we must bid you farewell. Thank you so much for coming on Let's Red Table that You're very welcome. Thank you for having me. Thank you. I appreciated the opportunity. I learned so much from that conversation. We're going to take a short breakoutter this but when we return, we're gonna share our top five takeaways from this episode. Now it's time to share our thoughts, presenting Cora and Tracy's top five thoughts. This is the part of the show where we speed through five thoughts slash takeaways from this episode. Let's fire them off. Come on number five. If you're experiencing drug addiction, there is help. You do not have to go along facts. You can go back to the top of this episode and get a number. There are resources online. There is a place for you to go. Number four with fitting all on the streets. Taking drugs recreationally is like playing a game of Russian Roulette. We've said this several times. This episode is so accurate. Oh my gosh, it's scary to be cliche. As we've said all episodes, just don't just say no, right, that's just the best way to go. We're gonna take that to number three. If you make a mistake, no matter happy or small, you are allowed to forgive yourself. That is the beauty came Number two. Talk with your loved ones, especially the impressionable youth in your life, about the realities of fitting all and some healthy recreational outlets. And I think that's something we wished they had talked about a little bit more on the Red Table or something I definitely wish they would have talked about, just some other healthier outlets to help people move forward even in their sobriety. So maybe people who aren't watching are people who just haven't experienced it, but maybe people who are recovering and want those additional tips. And Number one, trying drugs for the first time could be your last time. Who that's so heavy, period. We want to know how you're feeling about this new season of Red Table Talk. We are open to talk about any and every thing with you. Also make sure you're sending your questions at less red Table that at red table talk dot com. Thank you so much for listening. Make sure you get subscribed on I Heart Radio app, and please rate this podcast on Apple Podcast number five. We'll be back next week for another episode of Let's Red Table Back. A big thank you to our executive producers Jada Pinkett Smith, Ellen Rakitin and Folon Jethro. And thank you to our producer Kyler Knau and our associate producers Mara Della Rosa and Yolanda Chow. And finally, thank you to our sound engineers Calvin Baylis and Devin Donnahey.