Law enforcement and recovery specialists cracking down on fentanyl crisis in rural Southwest Alabama

CLARKE COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — The opioid epidemic is taking Alabama by storm, including portions of southwest Alabama.

Clarke County Sheriff DeWayne Smith spoke to News 5, about the opioid crisis in Clarke County.

“It is not limited to any part of the county. There’s not a town, city, or family that’s probably untouched in Clarke County,” Sheriff Smith said, adding that over the last five years, his department has seen a rise in fentanyl-laced drugs on the streets.

Law enforcement officials are not the only ones who have seen the impacts of the opioid crisis.

Recovery officials like Monika Rester, a Crisis Certified Recovery Support Specialist, are also seeing the impacts. Rester said she has helped patients all over Alabama start their journeys to get clean.

“These drugs that are around now are intended to kill you,” Monika Rester said. “The fake fentanyl pills are a big thing [in Washington and Clarke counties].”

According to Smith and Rester, the battle to end the opioid crisis comes from both ends of the spectrum — arrests and treatment.

Smith said law enforcement is working to bust drug dealers and test confiscated drugs.

“All the surrounding sheriffs, all the surrounding chiefs of police, everybody is working together on this,” Smith said. “We busted several drug dealers with trafficking weight in fentanyl. Any drugs we get, we’re actually testing for fentanyl. A lot of them are showing positive.”

However, both Smith and Rester acknowledged the importance of treatment in ending the opioid crisis the county is seeing.

“There’s not really a lot of treatment facilities here. So we’re trying to establish programs,” Smith explained. “This leadership class that we have developed is focused on the kids, the individuals that are in the program, taking responsibility for their actions and giving them the reasons why they need to change.”

For people struggling with substance abuse, there is help available in rural Southwest Alabama.

“At Jackson [Medical Center], they have a detox facility,” Smith said.

“There’s so much help out there,” Rester explained. “Even if you don’t have insurance, that does not matter anymore. There is help for anybody that wants help.”

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