VANCLEAVE, Miss. ( WKRG ) — The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics estimates that at least 392 people died of a suspected overdose in 2023, 300 of those deaths were at the hands of opioids.
Of the 2.9 million people in Mississippi, the State Board of Pharmacy reported 2.27 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed in 2023, roughly 6,237 opioid prescriptions a day. In total, 118 million dosage units were estimated, according to the Board of Pharmacy, which is roughly 323,988 dosage units a day.
Those variables were some of the factors that contributed to 41-year-old John Davis’ addiction.
John Davis’ Transformation Story
Davis said he grew up a normal kid in Vancleave, never into drugs and fairly out of trouble. He then underwent Tommy John, a surgical procedure that helps repair a torn UCL in the elbow , after an injury playing baseball at his junior college.
Following that surgery, the doctor prescribed Davis a six-month supply of OxyContin, a painkilling opioid.
“I never did a drug until the day I had surgery,” Davis said.
That prescription kickstarted Davis’s 22-year relationship with opioids such as Methadone, Suboxone, and Fentanyl.
Davis is on his sixth treatment at the Home of Grace addiction treatment center in Vancleave. His first visit was in 2006. Of his active 22 years of addiction, Davis said he was sober for the 48 months he was in a treatment facility.
“I didn’t make it maybe two weeks when I got out,” Davis said.
Each time, Davis said he would just pass his addiction along to a different opioid until he found himself stuck in a $ 200-a-day fentanyl habit.
“Once you start fentanyl, nothing else works,” Davis said.
Fentanyl-Related Overdose Deaths
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics estimated the number of suspected fentanyl related overdose deaths in the state increased from 220 deaths in 2022 to 258 deaths in 2023.
As for suspected overdose deaths, Harrison County claimed the number one spot in the state at 76 deaths. Jackson County came in at number two with 74 deaths. Number three was claimed by Desoto County with 27 deaths. Together, the top three counties accounted for 45.15% of all suspected overdose deaths in the state, according to the Bureau of Narcotics.
Davis said he lost at least 10 of his close friends to drugs.
“Everybody was dying around me around me, Davis said. “You know, some of them in my lap. Some of them beside me and some of them when I was in jail.”
Mississippi Emergency Medical Services reported that naloxone, a nasal spray used to reverse the effect of an opioid overdose commonly referred to as Narcan, was administered 3,084 times in 2023. Harrison County took the number one spot at 416 doses administered.
Davis accounted for 15 of those doses, one for each opioid overdose he had in 2023. He was sent to the hospital nine times.
“Every time I would do a dose, you wouldn’t know if it was going to be the last or not. I didn’t know and it didn’t matter,” Davis said. “I prayed to God; I hoped it was because I was tired of fighting it anyway.
Davis was a husband and is a father of four.
“I’ve done this for 20 years, in and out of their life. I was tired of hurting them, and tired of promising this, tired of promising that, you know, and then breaking promises,” Davis said. “You would think your family is enough. You think your kids are enough. You would think that but it’s not. None of it is enough to keep you sober.”
Davis said he has seven months left in his sixth treatment at the Home of Grace. To date, Davis has gone through 38 drug detoxes.
Addiction Treatment
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health estimated that 4,734 Mississippians were admitted to community mental health centers in 2023 for substance abuse disorders. Of them, 1,599 were admitted for opioid addiction.
Josh Barton, Executive Director of Home of Grace, a three-month faith-based addiction recovery program in Vancleave. Clients came from across the nation, including states like Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, etc.
Barton said roughly 31% of the 85 clients are recovering from opioid addiction. He said 10% of the recovery center’s population was hooked on straight fentanyl before they sought treatment.
“Man, it doesn’t take but one time for your life to totally change,” Barton said. “Now, also on the flip side, it doesn’t take but one time for things to go the wrong way.”
Home of Grace was founded 60 years ago by Barton’s grandfather. Barton’s great grandfather was an alcoholic. After seeing a treatment facility in Georgia, Barton’s grandfather mirrors the effort in South Mississippi with the founding of Home of Grace.
“In 1965, if you were an alcoholic, you were just considered an old drunk. There’s no help, no hope,” Baton said. “My grandfather was able to see the good in individuals that had alcohol problems because he could see the good in his dad.”
To date, Barton said 35,000 people have sought treatment at the center.
One of those clients was a man from Gulfport named Chuck, who Barton said became one of the treatment center’s best transformation stories.
“When he came into the Home of Grace, he had zero veins left in his body that he could shoot up,” Davis said.
Chuck made it about a week in the treatment center before he left, according to Barton.
“About two or three weeks later, I called Chuck and said, ‘How are you doing?’ He said, ‘Josh, I’m doing a lot better, man! I’m just smoking crack! I’m not messing with any needles!’ And that was his honest to goodness answer,” Davis said.
Eventually, Chuck came back to Home of Grace, this time with his drug dealer.
“His crack dealer ended up coming and getting help. His house, which was the crack house – we went over, our counseling team, made up his house, fixed it up, painted it up,” Barton said. “Just an unbelievable transformation.”
Barton said councilors make an effort to stay in touch with Home of Grace alumni years after they graduate from the program. Each year, Barton estimates 300 to 400 clients graduate from Home of Grace each year.
Barton could think of at least six alumni who have gone on to start their own treatment facilities.
“It’s really good, really awesome to see the real fruit of that,” Barton said.
Barton said communication is always the first step to the recovery process because people are probably closer to opioids than they’d think.
“Every family is dealing with it some way, shape or form,” Barton said.
Law Enforcement
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics reported 18,980 drug-related arrests in 2023, a 3.37% decrease compared to the 19,627 arrests in 2022.
According to the bureau’s findings, over 800 of those arrests were made in WKRG’s Mississippi Counties. Jackson County claimed 791 of those arrests and George County reported 67 arrests. Greene County reported 0 drug-related arrests to the Board of Narcotics.
As of July 29, George County Sheriff Mitchelle Mixon said his deputies have made 49 drug-related arrests in 2024. Methamphetamine was connected to 46 arrests.
Mixon said fentanyl is become more common whether on its own or laced with other drugs. He said GCSO narcotics officers and patrol deputies are making arrests on fentanyl charges as well.
“There’s no doubt that we have fentanyl in George County,” Mixon said. “We can’t put blinders on and say that it’s not here, because it is.”
Mixon pointed to previous drug trends. From marijuana, cocaine, and meth, Mixon said deputies must handle all of it with caution in the off chance that a deputy is exposed to a fatal dosage.
“It’s like a fad that changes, and now the fentanyl is one of our main concerns here,” Mixon said. “Like every other county, we have the other drugs as well. Sometimes the fentanyl is laced into the other drugs, so you have to use precautions on all of them.”
Mixon said drugs like fentanyl are brought in from major corridors. When they arrest one dealer, Mixon said there’s always another dealer who follows.
“Will we get rid of it? No,” Mixon said. “Hopefully we could make it so uncomfortable for those who are supplying and selling it that they would think twice before coming into George County.”
GCSO uses Narcan when responding to suspected opioid overdose scenes.
“We may not always get there in time to apply the Narcan,” Mixon said, reflecting on a recent case where he was present as deputies rushed to administer Narcan.
“I’m telling you; I didn’t think the young man was going to make it. It was bad,” Mixon said. “Sad to say, but I’m told he’s back at the same thing again.”
Mixon showed sympathy for recovering addicts, but said overall, his job is to enforce the law.
It’s a side of the law Davis said he hopes to never be on again. Once he graduates from Home of Grace, Davis said he hopes to echo his story with children in an effort to prevent them from ruining their lives before they even get started.
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