The Impact of Personal Loss

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Drug Prevention Power Hour. Now, it says this podcast is hosted by Jake White. In case you missed it, I’m not Jake. I’m Reggie McDonald. Think of me as Jake’s younger, cooler, funnier replacement for this episode. Now that we have that squared away, I’d like to introduce you to a substance misuse specialist and a very dear friend of mine, Jay Olguin. How are you today?

Hello, I’m doing amazing. I’m so excited to be a guest on the first episode. I feel so honored to be here.

I am so happy to have you. I know like you and I already know each other, but go ahead and tell our listeners a little bit about you and your prevention club, kind of your prevention story, if you don’t mind.

Yeah, of course. Well, like you said, I’m a substance-physique specialist. I am the youth lead for Fight Phenol, which is a statewide here in Kansas initiative that focuses on phenol awareness and poison prevention. We know, especially firsthand, how important it is to be aware of what substances are out there and just how easily phenol can be snuck into different things. So we focused on raising awareness about things like that providing trainings and giving education courses throughout the middle schools and elementary schools here in Wichita, Kansas.

As for what really started everything, I want to say about four years ago, we had this magazine that would have a special series throughout each issue where we would focus on something that was relevant to youth society. And at that time, fentanyl overdoses was just beginning, if you will, we started seeing, you know, those cases and hearing those deaths. And we were like, we need to speak up about this, because the majority of what we had found out was people weren’t, you know, dying intentionally from wanting to take fentanyl, they were doing something and fentanyl was late. So then we, I say we, before we were for fentanyl, we were TV Magazine. We collab with Wichita State University to conduct research on what Fentanyl really is, which I mean, at the time was was non-existent. No one knew what fentanyl was. No one was talking about it. So it was really hard for us to be able to conduct that research. But as the years went on and in 2023 especially, we saw a huge spike in fentanyl overdoses and deaths.

And I feel like that’s when it really started to hit the news and the media. And that’s when we just started rolling. We rolled out by fentanyl. We started touring here in Wichita and we created our first curriculum and it’s really cool because we were able to get that recognized through the city of Wichita. So we’re able to go, you know, all throughout the city to teach people about what fentanyl is, how to stay safe from it. We collaborated with a bunch of people. We were the first to create the fentanyl vending machine, which, I mean, was completely innovative for its time. And I think it still is, if I’m honest. I haven’t heard anywhere else that has a fentanyl vending machine, or not fentanyl, excuse me, naloxone vending machine. We’re not selling out drugs. But yeah, my bad, my bad. Yes, naloxone, which for any audience members who don’t know, naloxone is a substance you can take to help counteract the effects of fentanyl. But yeah, so it really started four years ago when we saw that something bad was happening in our community and we needed to make a change.

Youth Leadership in Substance Misuse Prevention

Yeah Okay, I was going to say I needed a little bit more explanation on that. Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think you mentioned though, how old are you, Jay?

Hehehe. yeah, so sorry. I’m 17 years old. I’m high school senior at Wichita South.

Yeah, like just taking that into consideration, like you’ve been doing this for four years and you’re 17. Like it’s just, it’s so cool for me to like see everything you’ve done. Like, I mean, I haven’t known you those whole four years, but like, I mean, I’m older than you and you inspire me. You know, like I would definitely see you as like someone I look up to. And I just, I think it’s so cool. Like the whole mission and the whole project, like with Fight Fentanyl, I mean, I tell people about it all the time. Like I just, I think it’s absolutely phenomenal and people everywhere recognize how crazy amazing it is that you guys have rolled that out and just the initiative that it has taken is so impressive especially for how young you are.

But in saying that, know, like the work that you’re in, it’s very like, it can be kind of draining, you know? Like you deal with a lot of overdose, which is really tough to like, even like mentally get through. And so is there something that drives you or makes you passionate about this cause? And if there’s a story behind it or not, that’s totally fine. But what is it that keeps you doing this.

Yeah. So like I mentioned, four years ago is really when we started. And at that time, in about middle of October, one of my closest friends, her name was Haley, she herself had passed away from fentanyl poisoning. And I feel like that’s what really sparked my personal ire for raising this awareness because it’s like, she never intended to have taken fentanyl, you know, not going to go into the whole story.

It wasn’t her intention. And I feel like for millions of Americans across our country, it’s not that intention. so I think personally, that’s my why, what really started everything. But what has kept me going is knowing that the work I’m doing has saved lives. every time I go out and give a tour presentation, I hear testimonials from kids who are like, I heard about this presentation and I went to the Naloxone vending machine and it helped my best friend. Just knowing that what I’m doing is actually helping people gives me so much hope and it really does keep me going because yeah it is very very draining. Thank you.

I’m sorry for your loss of your friend. That is so difficult to go through, but I would just say that, you you’re wise, really beautiful. And the fact that like you’re so driven and passionate is really inspiring to not only me, but I hope to any of the listeners out there as well. So you mentioned you work with Fight Funnel, which is a statewide initiative through Kansas, correct?

Okay, so is there like a prevention club within Wichita South or how does that work?

Curriculum Development for Different Age Groups

Yeah, so what’s cool is and like I said before we were originally birthed through TV magazine so the magazine we have chapters in about three of our different high schools here in Wichita and from that we were able to create almost sub clubs we call them advocacy groups awareness groups and that’s where we’re able to be in the classrooms and Continually educate those students. But mostly the work that we do, you know, through our presentations and through our curriculum is given in elementary and middle schools when we’re going out there and presenting. So although we do have a couple of awareness groups in about three or four high schools here in Wichita, most of our work is with early education. And since we can’t, you know, stay in the buildings all the time, we just have to frequently go in and give those presentations. However, we are trying to build a website this year which will include not just all of our curriculum, but different learning lessons and tasks people can do individually to be able to learn all about the effects of fentanyl and fentanyl prevention.

That’s so cool. I didn’t know about that. Okay. So you talk about like going into the elementary schools and early education kind of being your like focus with fight fentanyl. How is it different like speaking with early education as opposed to like leading things in high schools? Like how do you kind of change your curriculum to fit your age group?

Yeah, I feel like, how would I say this, imagery, if I’m quite honest, it’s the best way for me to really change up my things because with the high school and even collegiate students, we’re able to show off our story that we created that birth by Fennel, which was Riverside High. We’re able to show the full thing, give the curriculum the facts and statistics. We can’t do that with elementary kids. So what we did was kind of adapt it if you will so what we do for a lot of our things is use cookies and like french fries simple things for you to understand To really kind of grasp that picture. So a frequent thing I like to tell is if you have a batch of cookies and seven of the ten of them You know could Could put you to sleep or something That kind of helps represent how seven and ten pills are laced with something else that are found in the street and we work with a couple writers here in town, as well as other high school students who work with early education, like courses and curriculums, so that they can help transform our stories into something that is more age appropriate. But yeah, feel like cookies and French fries are the biggest things that we talk about whenever we go into those early educational settings.

No, I totally agree with the imagery. That’s really cool. When you talk about early education, like how early do you guys start?

We’ve been mostly focusing on 6th through 8th, although these past couple months we have been going to 5th grade courses. However, as new information comes out from the CDC and the DEA, they’re finding that education like this needs to be pushed as early as 3rd and 4th grade. So we’re trying to figure out ways where we can go even younger, which is an absolutely disheartening thing to have to say. But if we can prevent things before they begin, it’s best to do that. You know what I mean? fifth grade is the earliest, but we’re trying to aim for third or fourth.

Wow. So when you guys first got started, has it always been very much geared towards like preventing and like early education? Or did you guys start out in like a high school setting?

We definitely started off at the high school setting. We were going to different high schools. We went to a couple of different colleges here in Kansas, like Butler Community College, Wichita State University, Wichita Technical School, things like that. But as the information got released from, like I said, the CDC and the DEA, we started kind of adjusting our program to fit the needs of our society. I want to say year one, year two was all high school and then it wasn’t until year three, this last calendar year when we started wrenching out to middle schools. And then this year is when we reached out to fifth grade and hopefully by sometime in June, we’re able to get to the third and fourth graders.

It’s really cool that you guys were able to go so young, you’re right, it is really disheartening to know that it has to start that early.

Exactly so you’ve said that you’re the youth lead for Fight Fentanyl. What can you kind of walk us through like what the difference between like your role would be as opposed to anyone else in the group? Like are you the only youth lead? Are there multiple? Like what does that look.

Innovative Approaches: Naloxone Vending Machine

Yeah, absolutely. So as of now, we have two youth leads, me and then as you know, personally, my co-sponsor, Mariela, who, you know, goes to events with me and like that. So what we really do is almost give that final say whenever it comes to any actions that we want to do. We really focus on being youth driven. So by allowing us to have that final say, we’re able to truly embody the the voice of the youth. We help present ideas where essentially in every single part of the process from presenting to elevating, modifying, and then of course representing where some other people in our initiative or coalition would focus on one specific task whether that be creating the curriculum or fixing this or doing that research.

Okay, so as like the youth, you guys are pretty much like in charge.

Okay, so I do kind of want to backtrack to your Naloxone vending machine. I just, I need you to walk me through like how you got that idea, how you started that. Like that’s just so intriguing to me. And you’re right, like it’s very ahead of its time. Like I’ve never heard of, I had never heard of a fentanyl vending machine. That kind of threw me off when you had it first. But I’ve also never heard of a Naloxone vending machine. So just walk me through like,

Where did that idea even begin? What steps did you have to take to make that happen? Like, just go from there.

Yeah, so this happened in year one of our initiative being in existence. We had spoken at a town hall meeting and this is, know, as Fentanyl was emerging as a problem here in Wichita. We were talking about what is it? What is it doing? What’s going wrong? What can we do? And it was really funny because, well, obviously town halls are open to any and every single person here in our city. So we had people from all different walks of life. had medical doctors, we had law enforcement workers, we had students, we had regular, you know, everyday citizens. And when we’re coming up with preventative measures, they were throwing out some wild ideas. I’m not going to lie to you. Amazing ideas. I will not discredit, very, almost difficult to really institute. One that I remember was someone who wanted to require an on-lock zone in every school nurse office, which, you know, we’re still in the works of doing.

But we had to account for things like the money, the political side of things, because sadly, people debate about everything. We had people talking about naloxone distribution centers, which thankfully we have a few here in Wichita. We talked about nonprofit organizations being the ones that are the go-to when it comes to naloxone distribution. We had a whole bunch of things. And I don’t remember who it was, but it was just an average Wichita citizen and they had the very innovative idea of saying, what if we did a vending machine? And they got the worst stairs. There was no way that that idea was actually going to work. So nobody even gave credit for it. But what was really funny was the people that I was with were like, you know what? Let’s explore that avenue.

So we decided to see what it would be like to actually do some sort of vending machine where people are able to get access to the things that they need. We had partnered with Safe Streets ICT, which is another nonprofit organization, and our local law enforcement to figure out something along the lines of a vending machine that could work. We figured out it was something that, albeit is very different, it’s something that’s practical.

You know what I mean? A machine where you’re able to just type something in and grab something out of it. It’s accessible. It’s simple to use and understand. But there was a lot of barriers when it came to getting that into play. The biggest challenge other than the financial aspect was the public. They did not want a machine that would, you know, sell out essentially a drug because naloxone, although it’s life saving, it is still a drug.

Yes they didn’t want a drug that could just be handed out to whatever person. So it did take a little bit of back and forth with town hall meetings and communication. We had decided ultimately to go for it. So we partnered with the DEA, or not with the DEA, with the law enforcement program. We partnered with Safe Streets and we had created this machine where you type in your zip code and it would come out a box of Naloxone which had the instructions and the actual little naloxone itself. And there were nasal sprays because we figured it’s probably best to give out nasal sprays instead of the naloxone injections. But yeah, it took about eight to nine months for us to really be able to roll that out. And I don’t know the exact number of the cost, but we’re very fortunate to have one located in our downtown Wichita, which is a high need area but we are trying to work on getting some on different areas of which it’s as well.

So is there one in which child right now? Okay, and you’re trying to more though.

Yes. There is one public one. Oh yeah, 100 % trying to get some more because although it’s amazing that we have that, I feel like it’s not the most accessible for anyone who’s not near that very, the metro side of Wichita.

Yes, but even so, like, that’s just an amazing idea. I just, I love this. I love this so much. Like just the innovation, like to do a vending machine for Naloxone. Like, I love that. Okay. So I kind of have to like squish down my questions cause I’m just gonna, I could talk for hours. Okay.

So you touched briefly on like the barriers you ran into with naloxone, not even just talking financial, but also like community backlash, okay? So not only talking about the vending machine, but can you kind of touch on barriers you’ve run into in general with your entire fentanyl project? And like, how have you been overcoming them or like, what’s something you still have to like work to overcome?

Future Goals and Community Engagement

There’s many barriers. You know, working in substance misuse prevention, we’re working with drugs, we’re working with death, we’re working with very sensitive and touchy topics. So whenever we try to destigmatize all these things, we’re always going to be faced with backlash. There’s always going to be people who don’t want us to bring it up or want it to be a hush subject. So it’s hard whenever we’re going out to try and to try to raise awareness about these things because there’s always going to be someone who tries to put us down, if you will. And at the start of our initiative, when we were going into the schools, our city board or school board, excuse me, hated it. They thought it was inappropriate. They thought it was wrong. They didn’t think it was something a student would need to learn about. And we are very, very fortunate to have had two champions who both sit on our school board of education. and our city board who championed for us, who spoke about the need for this kind of advocacy work in our schools. So although education was a barrier, it later became its own advantage. As for me personally, I feel like the biggest barrier I have seen is my own age. Like you said, I am very young to be working in this field and it is a very much elder-dominated field, I would say.

So it’s hard for me to speak on all the things I can do and have done without being looked at weird or simply being discredited. You know, no one really at first, no one took me seriously when I said, oh, I’m a prevention specialist or oh, I’m a researcher at Wichita State University. Cause they’re like, you’re 17, what do you mean? But I feel like the more I went out there and started actually putting that action into everything I’ve done. So

Like, yes, I helped create Fife Fat and On. Yes, I’ve led these initiatives, but I have also like worked on pushing for policy work to be done here in Wichita and at the state level to say, yes, I have, you know, two proclamations from the city acknowledging the work that I have done, you know, and the work that my organization has done to be like, I am a specialist in this field. It took a lot of time, but.

It’s not to say I’m still not looked at every once in a while, but another really cool thing that has kind of helped counteract that was CADCA. You know, they’re really big on youth leadership and youth innovation, to be quite frank.

So going to the CADCA events like forum and mid-year and attending virtual events as well, I’m able to be in spaces where people are just like me that are doing very similar things and it’s very empowering to know, okay, it’s difficult but I’m not alone. And you know, through that I was able to network with people and meet amazing people like you yourself who are in very similar fields and who face similar things and knowing that I’m not alone almost gives a sense of assurance that I can keep going and succeed in this field.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, wow. Like, I don’t even know where to start, like breaking that down. You know, like, you just like, you keep just spitting out things that are like, okay, if someone had done, if someone at 17 had done one of these things, it’s like, wow, like you’re way ahead. then like, Jay just keeps saying more and more. Like, and he’s like, you know, I’m just like, I’m helping people. It’s whatever. Like you just, you just gotta take credit.

You are killing it. Okay. I’m just, very proud to be your friend, essentially. So I wanna go back to when we talk about like being the youngest person at the table. And specifically, I remember seeing on your Instagram story a couple months ago, remember that like you’re the youngest person at every table you’re sitting, you know? And maybe that’s a little stalkerish of me, but like, it’s okay.

And like, I get it, like being the youngest one, like how do you personally like put, I don’t know if you get like the thoughts of like not belonging or like being a little nervous when like everyone’s older than you, maybe not as much anymore, but like, especially maybe when you started out, how do you deal with that? Like what gets you through those thoughts?

Yeah, well to begin, it’s not soccer-ish at all. I had reposted something that said something along the lines of like, you’re not behind, it’s not an accident that you’re the youngest in the room. And having seen that, it completely changed my perspective because although people have always told me, Jay, you’re at an advantage for being so young, I’ve always felt like I was the exact opposite. I felt like I wasn’t good enough because all these people not only had  you know, whatever titles and degrees, but they had that age and almost sense of wisdom behind them. So I could never take myself for what it was because of my age. But when I saw that, completely changed everything. Because I’m like, you’re right. It’s not an accident that I’m in these spaces and circles. So I don’t know. It’s not soccer at all. I feel like it was a very powerful message that can also apply to you because you’re in a very similar boat as me.

Although I have been slowly but surely kind of accepting my expertise in the field, that’s not to say I still don’t have moments where I’m like, am I supposed to be here? It’s amazing that we’re able to be in those spaces and places. And it’s hard, you know, kind of fully accepting that. And I’m still trying to fully allow myself to lead. But just having that reassurance, feel like really it speaks volumes for our leadership and for our work.

Yeah. It’s amazing, but it’s not an accident. You’re right. Like you’ve worked, you’ve worked really hard and like you’ve gained that respect for a reason, you know? And I would definitely agree that it is like, is an advantage to a point. Yes. Cause like it’s the youthful, like fresh perspective, but also like there’s a lot of doubt that goes with it. And like just getting over that mental stair step of like being the youngest and like everyone doubting you, it’s really tough.

It’s really tough. So I really applaud you for what you’ve done. Thanks for coming on my podcast and like complimenting me. love it. But okay. whether it be, okay, we’ll start with this. So when it comes to being the youngest at the table, like, do you have any advice? Like, because a lot of our listeners, like that’s what they’re dealing with. Like they’re getting into prevention. They’re the youngest one there. Like what would you say?

Thank you. I applaud you a couple of different things. think first and foremost, you need to allow yourself to lead. kind of said this earlier, but, whenever you acknowledge the fact that being in leadership, whatever leadership looks like, that’s you practicing being a leader. That’s you being a leader, like allow yourself to, to embody that. and you know, kind of going with that.

Overcoming Barriers in Substance Misuse Prevention

There’s always that whole, you know, fake it till you make it mindset, but honestly it works. You know, allow yourself to keep your head up high. Yes. And, and lead, just fake it till you make it. Cause you will make it. And a social media post that I had seen, talked about having an altered ego and it’s actually really funny, but so my real name is Jeremiah. And when I was first getting into prevention, I had seen that post about having an altered ego.

And I was like, you know what, I’m going to try it out. So I created Jay, this super confident expert in substance misuse prevention. So anytime I would go to these presentations or conferences or meetings, I would be Jay. You know what, I was cool, I was calm, I was collected. And it took literally, I want to say less than a month of me having to pretend to be Jay to really embody that and now accept that as who I am.

So yeah, faking it so you make it, like having an altered ego, it really did work for me. And I feel like that’s a piece of advice I could give to others to like acknowledge that that fake persona you’re making isn’t a whole completely different entity. It’s you through transformation. And I feel like that kind of ties back to allow yourself to lead.

Yeah, I love the alter ego. I had actually never really thought about why you went by Jay. That’s so cool.

Yeah, it was really just a way for me to practice being confident.

Okay, that’s amazing. I love the fake it till you make it thing though. Like, at least for me, like when I walk into a room, it’s always like, pretend you’re confident, you know? Like that’s what people are gonna see is that like you’re confident, not that like you’re scared, you know? Just like people are a lot more like, I don’t know. It’s just very impressive when a young person walks in and is very sure of themselves and confident, even if you’re not actually, you know? Like your mind can be going a million miles a minute and you can be terrified, but as long as like on the outside you are just the embodiment of like, belong here, cause you do, you know? And I would, just hope that everyone gets that through their minds is that what you said about like, it’s amazing, but it’s not an accident.

I’m gonna say that all the time. Thanks for that quote. So I’m kind of running out of time. we’re just, but I gotta know some of these things. Like I love this. So looking back past four years, how, can you give me like some key takeaways of what, like how this club has benefited you the most or like how your Fight Fentanyl project, what have you gained from it? What are you the most?

Youth Leadership and Empowerment

Yeah, so I feel like first or earliest was when we made that transformation from being a story in a magazine to a real living, breathing entity and a coalition. Now we have representatives, we have medical doctors, we have police officers, we have people on city boards and school boards. Making that transformation to really making FIFA not real, I think was the first big thing that came out of it.

Then you know, getting to travel, think is such an amazing thing because, you know, yes, I’m traveling, but I’m getting to tell my story and getting to inspire people from all across, not just Wichita, not just Kansas, but the country, you know, through those CADCA events where I’m speaking at, wherever it is, I’m able to share my story and inspire people and help people. And what’s really cool is that those events in those things open doors for new opportunities for me to travel, you know, elsewhere and really really build on what FightFinal is and branch it out. And what’s really cool is actually just last month, had, I say they, FightFinal had arranged for me to go to Independence, Kansas to start a chapter of my FightFinal coalition over there. So that was a pretty cool takeaway that I got through FightFinal.

And I think what, one of the things that I’m most proudest of is getting that that spotlight moment and I don’t like the word spotlight. But getting the Kansas Prevention Collaborative Young Leaders Award in 2024 was such an amazing milestone for me because it acknowledged that the work I’m doing is being recognized, yes, but is being validated more so. I was in a room with people two, three times my age who have made this their entire careers and the fact that they’re acknowledging like you are the next leader. It really, it inspired me, but it also opened my eyes to the fact that, okay, I am an expert in this field. And I hope it does the same for others because even in Kai Pak, the Kansas prevention or Kansas Youth Prevention Action Council, I’ve met people who had these amazing awards and accolades, but they felt like they were still new to their prevention work. And I’m like, no, you have these titles and recognitions under your belt. You are an expert. Like, I feel like there’s a stigma with the word expert that you have to have a degree or you have to be of a certain age.

But whenever you’re dedicating years and you’re doing research to a topic, you are gaining expertise in that. And I feel like getting the Young Leaders Award really helped me understand that, okay, I am built up in this profession. And then what, if I’m honest, I’m proud of stuff, is getting those proclamations from the city of Wichita, acknowledging Fight Fentanyl as its entity and acknowledging, I believe it’s February, as Fentanyl Awareness Month, like that is such a big thing that I am so proud of, but I’m also so humble for and so thankful for that the city of Wichita recognized our efforts collectively and wanted to provide that for us. So those are the key takeaways. Thank you.

I love that. I love that. Well, yay, you’re alter ego. And you’re real you, you’re real you too. I just want to say from me, from the audience, from my bosses, thank you so much for spending your time this afternoon on the inaugural episode of my podcast. And just thank you for all the phenomenal work and advocacy you’re doing in your community. I told you before, I told you on this episode, but really just such an inspiration to me and like, I can’t, yeah, I just can’t put it into words. what, seeing you do your thing and seeing you just go out and absolutely shine. I know you don’t like the spotlight, but you’re killing it. You’re killing it. As we wrap up, would you like to share a social media handle for either you or your club that our listeners can check out if they wanna stay connected?

Thank you. Well, thank you so much yeah. so we don’t have a social media yet for Fight Fanon, but we do have a text too. So if you text the word FIGHT to 54244, you’re able to check out all the episodes of our fictional story, which, you know, birthed by Fanon. you’re able to help join our pledge and you’re able to get those research opportunities and information that we ourselves, have and, you know, create. So text FIGHT to 54244, but also actually, no, think that’s it. Check out Teen View Magazine. It is a really cool space for youth to be able to explore their arts in a variety of ways, whether that’s writing or taking pictures or anything else. I think that’s really it. I’ll have to plug.

No, that’s amazing. You should definitely join the text thing, but also the magazine is amazing. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen. So definitely check that out. And finally to our audience members, thank you so much for giving Jake’s replacement a chance and for the life-saving work you’re doing in your communities. It does not go unnoticed. And if you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend or someone who you think would benefit. This has been the Drug Prevention Power Hour Student Takeover with your host, Reagan McDonald, doing Jake’s job only better.