OKLAHOMA CITY — New data gives insight into the fentanyl crisis in America.
Data from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program shows fentanyl seizures increased by more than 1700% from 2017 to 2023.
Longtime Tulsa Dentist Dr. Keith Montgomery said he believes it’s only a matter of time before everyone has a fentanyl story to tell. He alone has far too many.
Montgomery now practices in Oklahoma City.
While taking trash to the dumpster, he found a young woman face-down on the ground.
“So I went over and asked if she was OK. No response,” he said. “Then, I went and shook her and said, ‘are you OK?’ No response.”
Montgomery immediately called 911 and then grabbed the opioid poisoning reversal drug called Narcan (the generic name is naloxone). He keeps it on hand.
“She opened her eyes about that big around—she didn’t know where she was,” he explained.
WATCH: Tulsa group offers free Narcan training:
Once alert, the woman admitted to paramedics she took street drugs.
“I would hate to have her parents get the call that she didn’t make it,” Montgomery said. “I got that call.”
To his knowledge, his daughter, Lea Marie, had been sober for four years. Two days before her 31st birthday, she went to celebrate.
“A co-worker gave her a pill to party, and she never made it out of the parking lot,” he said.
Jerry LeFlore, a known drug dealer in and out of prison, was convicted of second degree murder for selling the $20 pill that ended Lea Marie’s life.
While he may be free one day, Montgomery feels families get a life sentence.
In the nearly four years since his daughter’s death, Montgomery attended 10 fentanyl-related funerals.
“If your family hasn’t been affected, you’re going to know a family who has been affected,” he said.
Montgomery urges everyone to carry Narcan.
It is free and available in several distribution box locations across the Tulsa area.
Click here for a list of Narcan locations.
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