Reclaiming Ground president and health professionals speak on opioid use: ‘It takes community’

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series.

WARNER ROBINS — On Aug. 16, Reclaiming Ground held an assembly at Southside Baptist Church, bringing together local leaders and industry experts to raise awareness about the dangers of opioid use. A large part of the assembly focused on recovery, personal motivation and psychological factors and effects of addiction.

Tonya Cowperthwaite, a certified peer specialist in mental health and addictive disease, is in a nine-year recovery and shared her story.

Her addiction started with prescribed opioids after back surgery, and within five years, she was on the streets. She said her risk factors were genetic predisposition and exposure during her childhood.

“I definitely come from it, and was raised in it, and tried really, really hard. I was vegan for eight years. I swore [addiction] was not going to get me, and it did. And the animalistic levels that it took me [to,] a lot of people in this room know,” Cowperthwaite said.

She acknowledged the resources she had available to aid her recovery: she said she was able to receive free treatment, free college, and was mandated to complete a parenting plan in juvenile court. However, her stepson in another state had a more difficult time finding resources and eventually died from heroin addiction.

As a peer specialist, she said hearing of deaths from addiction is heartbreaking and seeing improvement is heartwarming.

“When I see someone reunified with their family, gaining a career, learning things. I cry. However, the tests we fail sticks out more than the ones we pass, sometimes. The one that dies, it hits hard,” she said.

Acknowledging her current connections to law enforcement, she said open communication is key to addressing addiction, especially with a rise in shops selling 7-OH, a compound 13 times more potent than morphine.

“It takes community. It takes these conversations. … I can also be the one to kind of make someone a little uncomfortable, maybe even a little mad, because there’s questions that need to be answered and there’s things that need to be connected, so that we can move forward with these challenges,” Cowperthwaite said.

Speaking from a psychology point of view was Dr. Tonja Simmons-Lee, A school-based mental health services coordinator for Bibb County School District.

According to Simmons-Lee, addiction and psychodependence are marked by four risk factors:

Biological: The brain trains itself to enjoy addictive substances due to a rush of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that provides feelings of pleasure.

Psychological: Depression, anxiety, trauma or stress can lead a user to seek comfort and emotional regulation through addictive substances.

Social & Environmental: Substance use is normalized in households with addictions; social pressure from friends and peers can especially lead children and teens to use drugs. Socio-economic factors can also play into substance use.

Genetic predisposition: Children of substance users can inherit an altered genetic makeup. However, this is not linked to a specific gene.

Simmons-Lee clarified that genetics alone don’t seal a person’s fate; other factors play into the risk, like a person’s environment and the biological response to using substances. She also mentioned addiction isn’t just limited to drugs; improper emotional regulation can lead to other compulsive behaviors, such as addictions to pornography or shopping.

She said peer pressure can lead teenagers to feel isolated if they don’t partake, but protective factors like children having a trusted adult to turn to can minimize addiction risk.

“When your environment doesn’t have protective factors such as that, then that risk rises, and now you are subject to getting involved in that predisposition as a result of not having good coping mechanisms … vulnerability plays in that, and you just learn to do what the Romans do when you’re in Rome,” Simmons-Lee said.

Dr. Bridget Moore, a pharmacist who works on Robins Air Force Base, said her main goal is education in the pharmacy realm, saying education — both in schools and at home — is the most critical tactic to decrease drug use.

“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. What we’ve got to do is tell the kids, not just that it’s illegal, not just that you can’t do it. They’re going to say, ‘If I don’t get caught, it’s not illegal.’ Understanding why, and this whole prevention and education of opioid overdoses is the first line of defense,” she said.

Moore said the second line of defense is naloxone (Narcan), an over-the-counter medicine readily available at pharmacies. Narcan is an opioid blocker that can reverse the effects of an overdose, and can be covered by insurance or a $45 co-pay. She encourages everyone to have a dose available in their household.

“It may be $45, however, we can’t put a cost, we can’t put a price tag on what saves your life,” she said.

However, she warned against depending on Narcan to rescue somebody overdosing repeatedly. As an alternative, she encouraged medication-assisted treatment.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, common options include buprenorphine (Suboxone), methadone and naltrexone.

Finally, Willis Raines, president of Reclaiming Ground, spoke about why he is passionate about spreading awareness. As a motivational speaker, Raines has traveled nationwide and to 27 countries, leading assemblies that empower youth to make positive choices.

Raines’s passion became personal in April of 2023, when his older brother died. His brother’s addiction started at 15 years old with smoking marijuana, which led to harder drugs, like crack cocaine.

For the last 15 years of his life, he found the Lord and found sobriety, wanting Raines to use his trials for motivation.

“He said, ‘can you tell my story?’ I said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘First of all, I want you to tell the young people. It’s not worth it,’” Raines said.

From his assemblies, Raines has witnessed several stories of devastating effects. A woman told him her grandson overdosed on a THC-laced vape. During an assembly, the coroner had to step away to respond to an overdose.

He acknowledged that he questions whether he is making a difference, but hearing success stories from students is encouraging.

“I had a young lady tell me, she said, ‘I used to vape, but because of what you said today, I don’t want to do that anymore,’” Raines said.

With a heavy emotional weight from his profession, Raines encouraged those going through trauma to find someone to talk to, like a therapist. Comparing drug use to “putting a circle block in a square hole,” he also encouraged a relationship with the Lord.

“You’re trying to take and fill that void with something that only God can fill,” Raines said. “I thank God that my brother had a chance to hear the gospel and was saved, but the damage it did to his body [was done.] He made the choice, but he didn’t choose the consequence of how it was going to destroy his body.”

Reclaiming Ground is planning a suicide prevention assembly on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Fellowship Bible Baptist Church, 420 Dunbar Road, Warner Robins.

Learn more about Reclaiming Ground on its website or on Facebook.