The number one leading cause of drug-related death in Arkansas was meth overdose until 2020, and since then, fentanyl has out-charted and out-killed. 

Stephanie Rose, director of Addiction Studies, said, “Synthetic fentanyl is our number one killer. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than meth.” 

The Warner Bros. documentary “Fentanyl Death Incorporated” came to UCA on Nov. 14 to spread awareness and educate students.

Along the sidewalk before walking into the Ida Waldran Auditorium were the photos of hundreds of men, women and children who had all died from fentanyl poisoning. 

Staci James is the director of Hope Movement Coalition and the chairman of Lost Voices of Fentanyl. 

She said, “The most powerful weapon we have is knowledge.” 

Since October 2019, James has been a voice for victims of fentanyl poisoning. After her son died from a fentanyl overdose in March 2019,  she started a Facebook account as a way to blog about her experience and reach out to other grieving mothers.

“I called my separate Facebook page Hope Movement,” James said. Since then, the account has grown to an organization dedicated to ending the fentanyl epidemic. 

James had been working with Warner Bros. since 2021 when they documented a rally she attended in DC. 

The rally was called Bridge the Gap, and Warner Bros. captured many highlights.  

Hundreds of people gathered at the White House to protest and shout the names of the loved ones they lost due to fentanyl overdose.

The documentary aimed to crush the stigma that fentanyl overdose affects only drug addicts or people who use drugs regularly. 

Paige Styles, a 19-year-old student at UCA, said she experienced the tragedy of losing someone to fentanyl overdose. 

“My friend died because he took a pill laced with fentanyl,” she said. “He got two pills to take with his roommate; one pill was laced, and the other was not.” 

Styles said her friend was clean of drugs when he died.

“That is what shocked everyone the most,” she said. “He was clean, and that one time he never woke up.” 

According to the Arkansas Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is the host of 7 out of 10 street pills. 

James said. “If there were a serial killer in the state of Arkansas, everyone would pay attention. People really, truly need to view this as a serial killer because you never know when it will strike next.” 

James pushed for the documentary to come to UCA because she said, “UCA provided naloxone before it was state law.” 

Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, and Rose took part in bringing it to campus.

“We were a pilot program for the state, and it worked, so now all high schools and colleges in Arkansas have it,” Rose said. “We started with 27 boxes, and now we have them in all buildings on campus.” 

Bruce Butler, CEO of Union Gospel Mission in Dallas, was featured in the documentary and came to UCA to share his words of advice.

Butler said, “If you do not get it from your doctor or pharmacist, don’t take it.”

The film pointed out that America is 4.2% of the global population, and yet America consumes 30-40% of the world’s illicit drug supply, including fentanyl. 

James said,  “Fentanyl does not discriminate against anyone. It is a public health crisis.”  

Kenzie Blanchard, a junior at UCA, said she was shocked the most after watching the documentary. 

She said, “This is a crisis around the world.” 

In Arkansas, providing someone with a drug that is laced could result in a 25-year to life prison sentence. 

James said, “I have seen best friends go to jail not knowing that the Adderall they got for their friend to help them study was laced.” 

Rose said, “Law enforcement is serious about this. It goes as far as manslaughter charges.” 

Since the fentanyl crisis is so widespread, the documentary indicates how important it is to have more conversations about the dangers of drugs and how lethal fentanyl is when encountered. 

At the documentary showing, UCA President Houston Davis said having an “open and productive dialogue on the subject” could stop the abuse of fentanyl and result in “not just conversations, but solutions.”