Louisiana survivor and senator team up to fight fentanyl, support recovery

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A Baton Rouge advocate against drugs speaks during an event about drug use and a new law against fentanyl.

“Don’t trust anyone who’s giving you pills,” said survivor Tonja Myles. “They might not know something is in it, but you just don’t know.”

Myles looks and feels a lot different than she once did. She wants to steer people in the right direction.

“I encourage those who are there who might think about experimenting with drugs, don’t do it, don’t do what I did. It’s not worth your life,” she said.

She spoke to families and others during a Thursday event about the impact drugs can have, and a new law called the Halt Fentanyl Act.

“We want to educate our kids like never before, because if we don’t, we are going to lose another generation,” Myles shared.

This law officially classifies fentanyl as a Schedule I drug, meaning stricter penalties for people who push it or buy it. The CDC reports fentanyl overdose deaths dropped considerably last year, but people are still dying, something Senator Bill Cassidy said he’s focusing on.

“You don’t have to release yourself to the imprisonment of addiction,” said Cassidy. “You can actually go into treatment, into recovery, in hopes of a new life.”

Myles said she supports the law and relied on the community to get her through hard times. She said people experiencing addiction should do the same.

“People need to reach out,” she added. “People need to know there is hope and people they can call 988 [Suicide and Crisis Hotline], a number they can call 24 hours, seven days a week, and get the help they need.”

Latest News