FENTANYL: THE NEW PARADIGM

Steve Filson retired in 2009 after a 31 year career with the San Bernardino County Sheriff, and San Bernardino Police Department. Steve is the owner of a private security company, and a member of the Administrative Staff of the Public Safety Academy of San Bernardino. The Academy, serving grades 6-12, is designed for students desiring to enter the public safety career field. Steve is a bereaved parent who lost his daughter to illicit fentanyl in January 2020. He lives in Highland, California with his wife, Cheri, and their 4 year old granddaughter, Elara.

Ed Kobilis worked in a research lab for a large chemical company for 18 years before switching careers in 1998. He has been owner and operator of Elite Personal Training and Wellness for the past 23 years. Ed is a bereaved parent who lost his son to illicit fentanyl in 2018.

Jaime Puerta is a United States Marine Corps Veteran, and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Puerta & Associates, Inc.; a small Interpreting business

Virginia Krieger is a former nurse and investigative analyst for The Hartford specializing in disability fraud. She has applied her extensive background in investigative analysis to the growing issues surrounding this drug epidemic and illicit fentanyl. She has completed two independent research projects studying high impact areas in Ohio, which is ground zero for this epidemic, and around the nation. She has presented her findings to leadership in the State of Ohio and the Federal Government, including Ohio Senator Rob Portman and Congressman Jim Jordan. Additionally, Mrs. Krieger has testified before the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Ohio Senate Bill 3 (which would lower penalties associated with drug trafficking); successfully opposed Ohio Issue 1 which would have lowered penalties for possession of illicit fentanyl and will be the keynote speaker at the next National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) annual meeting; she has been a guest on numerous radio stations and podcasts educating the public and sounding the alarm regarding illicit fentanyl; has spoken at recovery events and rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.

Most importantly, she suffers an anguish shared by more than 100,000 American families: she lost her lost her only daughter Tiffany to counterfeit pills (“Percocet”) containing heroin and illicit fentanyl, on February 2, 2015. Tiffany was not a drug user, nor was she addicted to anything. She was given a single dose of “Percocet” (fake) by someone she knew, when suffering an injury for which, ironically, she was not prescribed pain medications due to the newer, more restrictive prescribing practices. Tiffany was the victim of the new paradigm of the Drug Crisis; the non-addicted victim. Like so many bereaved parents, Virginia wanted to save other children in the crosshairs of Fentanyl, and with that save other mothers and fathers the anguish she feels each day without her precious Tiffany. To do so, she founded Parents Against Illicit Narcotics (P-A-I-N) to promote drug awareness and prevention efforts in our communities. This is accomplished through collaborative efforts with local grass roots organizations who promote drug awareness and education to the general public through a website and ongoing research projects. Mrs. Krieger is a founder and Board Director of the Fentanyl Awareness Coalition, a national organization bringing together the voices of those living victims of Synthetic Drugs.

Virginia Krieger brings a unique perspective to the Opioid Crisis. Losing a non-addicted, non-user child to this Crisis, while suffering the anguish of addiction as well, since her youngest son Zachary fell into substance abuse due to the intense grief he experience when losing his sister. Zach nearly died in October 2020 from meth contaminated with acetyl-fentanyl. Such contamination (a.k.a. “lacing” is part of the new paradigm). He is now sober, but anyone suffering the anxiety of a family member with a Substance Use Disorder knows that her fear and suffering are a constant, and, much like the grief of losing a child, permanent.

Michael Gray is the CEO of Actus Analytical, Inc., which develops spectroscopy solutions for public safety compliance, illicit drug detection, agricultural productivity and other applications. Nancy Gray has spent the bulk of her adult life – and the Gray’s 32 years of marriage – dedicated to the loving care of her family and has now joined with Michael in support of Actus Analytical.

The Grays are the parents of Declan Gray, 25, and Amanda Gray, who was killed by a poisoning of straight Fentanyl on January 11, 2018 at the age of 24. The Gray family battled with acute mental illness throughout Amanda’s life, and her intermittent substance abuse in the last 2 years before her passing.
Michael and Nancy founded The Actus Foundation, a 501©(3) charitable organization, in 2018. The Foundation advocates treating the entirety of the illicit drug death epidemic in America, including the largely forgotten constituency of intermittent users. Most notable are the acutely mentally ill, who abuse opioids or other drugs (prescription and non-prescription) in a search for symptom relief from tragically under-treated diseases.

The introduction of Synthetic Opioid Chemicals (a.k.a. Fentanyl) into the illicit drug supply stream is nothing less than a paradigm shift1 to the decades-long “Opioid Crisis” in the USA. This means all aspects of illicit drug use must be considered to save lives, since any single instance of illicit opioid use may lead to death. The time to see the threat as related only to “addicts” and “overdose” is long past; indeed, it is the old paradigm.

Michael is a popular speaker, offering unique analyses and suggestions for creative solutions to a new problem, i.e., an old problem with a recently altered paradigm1. Michael walks participants through the murky world of the drug problem clarifying the threat and dispelling myths. He is advisor to numerous Congressional Members and a close partner to the Chairs and Ranking Members of key committees. He has testified before Congress and has three times been a guest of the White House. The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (the “Drug Czar) and its Director, Mr. James W. Carroll, is a close partner.

The Actus Foundation also advocates for the mentally ill, striving to deliver the message that mental illness is a disease the entire family suffers, and suffers in isolation; there are no well-worn paths to solutions available to those in chronic states of mental illness, as there are for medical patients. For all our success in medical science – diagnostic practices, treatment/care and patient advocacy – our nation has left behavioral science in the stone age. Our practice of psychiatric care – diagnostic practices, treatment/care and patient advocacy – is the ugly stepchild hidden in the attic as the country proudly displays her medical science wonders to the world.