May 19, 2025 • 42 mins
Kyle Santoro, a 19-year-old filmmaker, created the documentary "Fentanyl High" to explore teenage psychology behind substance abuse after witnessing overdoses at his high school. His film takes a peer-to-peer approach to addiction education, removing stigma and creating spaces for vulnerable conversations about why teens turn to substances.
Kyle and Dr Grover discuss his experiences making the film and what he has learned through making it:
• Kyle began the project after a classmate overdosed in a school bathroom and administrators never acknowledged the incident
• Traditional school responses to substance use often involve punishment and shame rather than compassion and understanding
• Several teens who participated in making the documentary achieved sobriety through the therapeutic process of sharing their stories
• Film screenings serve as community events with resources, panel discussions, and free naloxone distribution
• Schools often resist hosting screenings due to fear of being labeled as having a drug problem
• The documentary has been screened across multiple states creating a "domino effect" of awareness in communities
• Kyle raised $75,000 to produce the film through community sponsors and organizations
• Prevention efforts need more youth representation to create effective messaging that resonates with teens
• The film emphasizes the importance of parents maintaining open communication with their teenagers
If you want to learn more about Kyle's film, visit fentanylhigh.com.
To contact Dr. Grover: ammadeeasy@fastmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Addiction Medicine Made Easy
Podcast.
Hey there, I'm Dr Casey Grover,an addiction medicine doctor
based on California's CentralCoast.
(00:22):
For 14 years I worked in theemergency department, seeing
countless patients strugglingwith addiction.
Now I'm on the other side ofthe fight, helping people
rebuild their lives when drugsand alcohol take control.
Thanks for tuning in.
Let's get started.
I am really excited about thisepisode here in the United
(00:44):
States.
Fentanyl is a major problem.
It is the dominant opioid inthe illicit market and, as we
all know, it's extremely potentand has therefore caused
thousands and thousands ofoverdoses.
I am very grateful that, in myrole as an addiction medicine
doctor, I am part of the fightagainst fentanyl.
(01:05):
By treating patients withopioid use disorder, I help them
to stop using fentanyl.
Now you might think that ateenager who doesn't have any
medical training might feel thatshe or he couldn't do anything
about fentanyl, but for thisepisode, I had the honor and
pleasure to interview KyleSantoro, who is a 19-year-old
(01:28):
filmmaker who created adocumentary about fentanyl in
his community to educate aboutfentanyl and the reason why
teens use substances.
His documentary is calledFentanyl High.
I've seen it and it's reallywell done.
Is called Fentanyl High I'veseen it and it's really well
(01:48):
done.
Kyle and I spoke about hisdocumentary for this episode and
I learned so much about how wecan help teenagers who are using
substances.
If you want to learn aboutKyle's film, you can go to
fentanylhighcom.
And with that, let's get intomy conversation with Kyle, and
with that, let's get into myconversation with Kyle.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
All right, kyle.
Well, I am so honored to get tospeak to you today.
Tell us who you are and whatyou do.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
I'm Kyle Santoro.
I'm a 19-year-old, I'mcurrently a freshman at Ohio
State and I'm a filmmaker, andfor the past year and a half to
two years, I've been working onthe distribution of my first
feature film, fentanyl High,which specifically dives into
the teenage psychology behindsubstance abuse and the fentanyl
(02:35):
epidemic.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How did you get started on this topic?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, so specifically with this topic of teenage
substance abuse, it was duringmy junior year of high school.
We in the community in the LosGatos community I went to Los
Gatos High School we had a lotof overdoses, especially coming
out of COVID.
During COVID there were a lotof overdoses, and so there was
(03:18):
actually one of my peers oncampus that actually overdosed
in the bathroom on campus andthis was during the first day of
school and it was also thefirst day of our new principal's
job at the time and he was theone who had to revive him.
But after that incident itwasn't talked about.
Nobody really brought that up.
In fact, the school I don'tbelieve ever even admitted to
that happening, even thougheveryone saw the paramedics come
onto campus, everyone wasquestioning it, but it was never
(03:40):
addressed and nobody ever sawhim again.
He kind of moved away and andyou know that it just became
taboo to talk about that and itwas just never addressed.
And so you know it already hadme asking questions of why.
Why, first of all, was heexperimenting?
(04:01):
And of all, why was the schoolnot doing anything about this?
It's not like every kid isexperimenting with M30 pills on
campus.
So you know that's already ahard question of why that's
happening.
And it's an analogy that Iheard from a parent once was if
you walk in on a kid crying inthe school bathroom, you're
(04:24):
going to ask him why are youcrying?
You're going to ask him why areyou crying, you're going to
comfort him.
You're going to get theappropriate level of care for
that kid.
But with drugs, schools tend tospecifically go after them with
disciplinary actions ofexpulsion or suspending the kid.
Calling your parents.
That brings a level of shame, alevel of embarrassment to the
(04:44):
kid.
Calling your parents.
That brings a level of shame, alevel of embarrassment to the
teen and even in fact, a lot ofthe teens that are faced with
disciplinary actions on campustend to become even more down
low about their drug use or havemore secrecy around that.
So those administrators thathave these types of actions or
(05:05):
consequences for kids who usesubstances it's very outdated
and especially in a time wherefentanyl is so potent and so
dangerous.
He could have passed on campusand nobody wants that, and he
was 17 at the time and it's just.
There's always a reason behindit.
And it's just, there's always areason behind it and a lot of
(05:26):
teens fall into unhealthy copingmechanisms due to domestic
issues, peer pressure, you know,academic pressure there's so
many things that are going onduring teenagehood.
I feel like there are just somany reasons that contribute to
why somebody may self-medicateat a very young age.
And, you know, for aneducational standpoint we really
(05:51):
need to do better, not only aslocal communities, as educators,
as even a nation, to reallyaddress all this taboo around
substance abuse, because, youknow, teens should not be dying
of this.
And so that, just it really gotto me at that age, because
(06:12):
that's also an age whereexperimentation is very common
with alcohol, with drugs, withall kinds of stuff at that age,
and so that awareness just wasnot there on campus and I wanted
to use my passion of filmmakingto really bring that out and
actually inspire people toactually do the same with
(06:34):
creating a platform where peoplecan actually talk about this
and actually, because nobody wastaking that leadership and I
just felt like, you know, if noone's going to do this, why not
it be a teenager, so that otherteens can resonate with this
message of peer-to-peercommunication around this
(06:56):
specific topic of fentanyl andsubstance abuse so you are very
articulate in being able toshare what you know about
addiction.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
How much did you learn from making the film
itself versus what you knewbefore?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
so before I started the film I really I did not know
that much about the fentanylepidemic.
I didn't really know too muchabout substance abuse and the
causes behind it, the differentstigmas that are associated with
it, because I was 16 at thetime and so I was going through
(07:34):
all of this myself and blendinginto the high school population
and just trying to figure outmyself, figure out who I am.
But at that time I was justasking so many questions and so
it kind of led to this rabbithole of just digging deeper,
(07:54):
deeper, deeper, deeper.
And so throughout that processof research a lot just started
coming up, and during thefilmmaking process of
interacting with parents whohave lost their kids to fentanyl
within the past few yearsthey're just with each of their
unique answers and perspectives,it really made me realize that
(08:17):
there are so many layers tosubstance abuse and,
specifically with teenagers andthis whole epidemic, there are
just so many layers thatcontribute to it so that just it
had me.
It really made me branch outand really try to get all these
(08:37):
different perspectives.
So, for example, parents whohave lost their teens to
fentanyl poisoning, teens whowho experiment, government
officials their kind ofperspective on this.
Pediatricians who work directlywith teens who are coping with
substances, and county officials.
So just really creating thisgamma of perspectives to then
(09:03):
kind of align all the commonthemes that I'm seeing and also
the things that aren't workingand the things that are working
and kind of figuring out how canI make something out of that so
that everybody can reallyresonate with what is being
heard on the screen specifically.
But what I've learned throughoutthis process around substance
(09:27):
abuse is, like I was sayingearlier, there's always a reason
, and it's very personal a lotof times, or whether that's
influenced by your surroundings,your parents.
There's just so many reasonsthat somebody would choose that
and we as a society judge that,and that judgment can then
(09:47):
create stigma and differentharmful standards that we we
hold each other to, andespecially at a young age where
there's so much pressure that'sput on you, it's it's a very
hard thing to cope with becauseyou're also transitioning into
adulthood, you're transitioninginto a more mature identity that
(10:11):
is also forced upon you in alot of cases.
So bringing the teens who Iworked with in the project
really be able to talk abouttheir experiences, their
perspectives on it, what they'vegone through that made them
self-medicate.
It's just something that notonly I had never heard at the
(10:33):
time, but I knew that there's noway that you know they talk
about that that often with otherpeers.
And it's something that needsto be normalized because a lot
of the teens who worked on thisproject it was extremely
(10:54):
therapeutic for them to be ableto express themselves and also
express a lot of the pain andtrauma that they've experienced
in their lives that made themturn in that direction, towards
substances, and so it was verytherapeutic for them and in fact
a lot of them are actuallysober now after that project
because they were able to digdeeper in themselves and
(11:16):
discover their why, and in factsome of them even told me right
after I interviewed them for thefilm that that was the first
time they actually ever saidthat out loud and how they felt
about their situation and howthey turned to substances
because of certain experiencesthey had.
(11:36):
And so normalizing this type ofdiscussion is so important, you
know, not only for aneducational purpose but also
just personal human experience.
I mean it's just because it'staking an unhealthy form of
escapism and creating a positiveform of escapism out of it to
(11:57):
be able to express what you'vegone through and inspire others
to do the same, becauseinternalizing that at a very
young age can be super dangerouswith the amount of unhealthy
coping mechanisms out there andthe easy access that you can
have to substances throughsocial media, through technology
, and so it's just a differentlandscape than, for example,
(12:22):
like when my parents wereyounger, when they were my age,
you know, and especially withoverdosing, you had to take a
lot of something back then tooverdose.
Now it's just two milligrams.
You can be dead in the snap ofa finger.
So it's just, we have to changethe way we approach this type
of education around things thatare taboo.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So yeah, so I agree 100 with your message, and it's
funny because I had alwaysthought, oh yeah, addiction
they're just self-medicating.
And so then I went and becamean addiction medicine doctor and
had a slightly differentperspective.
But yeah, at its simplest,addiction is using substances to
self-regulate, right?
(13:05):
People don't like how they feel, so they find a substance.
I'm curious as to what you saidwhen you said some of the
students that you worked withfor the film got sober in the
process.
That, to me, was an unexpectedbenefit of your film.
I totally agree with you aboutraising awareness and making the
conversation easier.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Talk to me, obviously without naming any names, but
talk to me about what thosestudents who got sober as they
made the film, what theirexperience was so for the first
time, a lot of the teens whoworked on this project, they not
only in the process of eitheracting or being interviewed had
(13:47):
the opportunity to feel likethey were not being judged for
what they had to say out loud,because a lot of them did come
from environments at home wherethey just did not have any type
of open line of communication ortrust with their parents, so
they never actually even talkedabout things that could
(14:07):
potentially create uncomfortableconversations.
So for them to be able to onset when we were all working
together and it's all teensworking with teens, so it's
people who you relate to at thesame age and you're going
through a lot together.
We all went through COVIDtogether.
We knew how that was and howisolating that was, how people
(14:30):
felt, just so, so down at thattime, and so for us to all come
together and have an opportunityto express ourselves, express
our opinions and really accepteach other.
I think that really created asafe environment for those teens
to acknowledge their past,acknowledge their experiences
(14:54):
and really find peace with itand move on with it and move on
Also with the film events thatwe were able to do.
That was the first time wherethey got to publicly speak about
their experience and a lot oftimes like, for example, we did
a screening at a middle schoolfor their sixth, seventh and
(15:14):
eighth grade body and it was thefirst time where they had the
opportunity to talk in front ofteens who were younger than them
and actually inspire them.
And so I think that thatopportunity that the film gave
them was so therapeutic in termsof not only accepting and
(15:39):
acknowledging their situationand being able to piece that
together with the why behindtheir substance abuse, but also
to see it as a positive thingthat can then push them in a
direction where they can inspireother teens who maybe are going
through the same thing tochange that.
And so it was just there's somany angles that that contribute
(16:03):
to it.
But I think, most of all, themost important thing that they
were able to get out of workingon this project was just not
internalizing their situation,not feeling like they're a
pariah at this age, and I thinkthat, and also just seeing
change.
I mean we were able to getschools to be able to
(16:28):
incorporate this into theircurriculum, and so we've had
schools license it as a part oftheir PE curriculum, a part of
their yearly assemblies thatthey're going to be screening to
teens and families.
So I think for them to be ableto see their story and their
message that is so personal tothem, inspire teens and families
(16:50):
to create that open line ofcommunication that they may not
have had growing up is somethingthat inspired them to want to
do more of that, to do moreinspiring, to then work on
themselves and create positivecoping mechanisms, positive
outlets for themselves.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
You talked about doing screenings and we've
screened your movie at severalevents here on the central coast
of California.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Talk to me about how you actually set up a screening
and the type of impact that youwant your movie to have engage
with communities or topics thatthe film covers specifically
around mental health, substanceabuse, lgbtq, wellness centers,
(17:50):
acceptance programs there's justso many perspectives that the
film covers, and so what we dowith the film screenings, we try
to incorporate all thoseagencies and have them be
present at the film screenings,in collaboration with the
schools, school districts,within that local community, to
create a community event wherewe are screening the movie, we
(18:10):
are distributing resourcesaround those specific topics,
around mental health, substanceabuse, treatment for teens and
wellness centers, and then alsodistributing free naloxone at
all of the film screenings tothen have that take action step
after the film screening thatyou can have this device that
can potentially save lives.
So you're walking out of thefilm screening after watching
(18:34):
the film with all of themessages from the film and then
having something in the lobbywith resources and with naloxone
, to then feel like you'recontributing to this movement of
educating teens aroundsubstance abuse and also
potentially being able to save alife.
And so, with the impact that wewant with these film screenings
(19:00):
specifically, we really wantnot only teens and parents to
know that if you're ever handeda pill, you should just assume
that it can kill you.
That's the first message andthe second message would be
don't assume like for parents,don't assume that your kid is
(19:22):
not going to be that kid who mayexperiment with that.
It's just a lot of the parentswith whom I've worked thought
the same thing my kid wouldnever do that, or our community
doesn't really have that kind ofproblem.
My neighborhood doesn't reallydo that and so it's assuming is
so dangerous nowadays.
And I feel like reallymaintaining that open line of
(19:45):
communication within thehousehold, making sure that your
teen trusts you, that you havea safe environment where your
teen can come to you foranything really just, really
just.
It helps to prevent that,because if your teenager is not
receiving affection, validation,attention from you, they're
(20:07):
going to go look for that inother places, whether that be
parties, whether that be otherplaces outside of your household
that may contain unhealthycoping mechanisms such as drugs,
alcohol.
You just have to show your kidthat you care, you know, and
that could be as easy as justhaving real, sincere
(20:27):
conversations with them all thetime, but then also not avoiding
uncomfortable topics, because alot of times you'll.
You will surprise your teen ifyou actually embrace it and they
actually want that.
They want to be able to trustyou.
They want somebody there to bethere when they're feeling down,
when they're feeling upset,when they're feeling insecure,
(20:48):
because this, like I said, this,is a very hard age.
I'm going through it myself.
As a teenager, you're justyou're, you're figuring out what
your purpose is in this world,and so to have an open line of
communication, have people whoyou can trust by your side,
whether that's in your household, your friends, somebody who is
(21:11):
so close to you, it's just soimportant for you to be able to
navigate this life, this currentsituation that we're going
through as teenagers.
As a country, there's justthere's so much there, and so I
feel like, on the educationalside of things, schools really
need to be more proactive aroundthis.
(21:33):
Multiple situations withcommunities where high schools
avoided hosting a film screeningof fentanyl high because they
didn't want to be labeled as aschool that has a drug problem.
They didn't want bad press fortheir school.
That, in my opinion, isshort-term thinking, because if
(21:56):
you were to have a teen in yourcommunity, a teen on your campus
overdose from fentanyl, thatbad press is coming to you
anyways.
So you really need to be hyperaware of the fact that this is
everywhere.
This isn't some far issuethat's outside of your community
(22:17):
.
It's most likely in yourcommunity, but you are avoiding
talking about it.
So it's something that needs tobe incorporated within an
administrator standpoint or acurriculum-based program where
we are educating teens not onlyabout the drug epidemic, about
fentanyl, but about the teenagepsychology behind substance
(22:39):
abuse.
What are you going through as ateenager that may lead you to
self-medication?
Because I think a lot of teens,especially with stereotypes,
with different cliques in highschool, you can just assume that
a certain group of kids in highschool are going through that.
They're going to beself-medicating and we should
just avoid that group of kids.
(22:59):
That is not true at all andstereotypes clicks.
You know the way we view viewkids in high school like that.
It's so outdated and it's notaccurate at all.
Every kid is going throughsomething, and so we as a
community, as a society, need toacknowledge that and really
(23:22):
just have conversations aboutthese tough topics and really
embrace it, not only from adomestic standpoint, but also
from an educational standpoint,because we don't need more
teenagers dying in this societyright now, because teenagers are
going to be shaping our futureand so we really need to be
preserving the lives ofteenagers right now, and so I
(23:45):
think the best way we can dothat is coming together, and so
that's also why the model of thefilm screenings we host at
Fenton Ohio incorporates all ofthese different agencies,
different organizations thatcome together to support this
message of acceptance andacknowledgement around substance
abuse and teenage psychology.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Can you give me an example of a screening that went
particularly well?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, we actually.
One of my most memorable oneswas the May 2nd film screening
of Fennel High at the RealTheater in Santa Cruz.
That was one of our mostsuccessful ones by far we had.
And all the film screeningsthat we host are free, so
(24:34):
there's no financial commitmentto them.
So we have to over market a lotof these events to really have
a full house.
And so the real theater filmscreening we had so many
organizations come together tohost that screening and we had
around 400 people show up forthat event.
(24:55):
And we host these events onweekdays because we tend to
avoid weekends, where peoplehave a lot of plans and you're
trying to relax.
So you know, tuesdays,wednesdays, thursdays are
usually best depending on thecommunity as well, and usually I
sit at the back of the filmscreenings and I just watch
(25:15):
people's reactions.
People's reactions and theamount of teens and parents that
I saw lean on each other'sshoulders throughout the film
was really touching for me tojust see them embrace each other
.
It's something that you reallydon't see.
That often I've seen parentsjust crying and hugging their
teens and it's just, it's movingto see that teens are being
(25:43):
vulnerable and parents areacknowledging their teens and
showing affection and, most ofall, I just think, as a
community having thatvulnerability and showcasing it.
I just think it's so powerful tosee that, and so we usually
(26:03):
also have a panel discussionright after the film screening
of the movie, which hasdifferent perspectives, such as
first responders, public healthofficials, parents who have lost
their teens to fentanyl fromthat specific community teens,
and sometimes myself included.
But it helps to create thatcommunity connection, to show
(26:30):
that this is right.
Here in our community, ourfirst responders, our paramedics
in our community are on thefront line doing everything they
can to help our teens.
Our parents who have lost teensin our community are doing
everything they can to spreadawareness within our community.
Our public health officials aretrying their best, and so it's
really showing the communityeffort.
(26:51):
But then also, you know, havingthat realization that it's not
some epidemic that's far away,it's right here in our community
and we need to be proactiveabout it.
And so I think that the filmscreening at the Rio Theater was
a great example of that,because people are taking time
(27:12):
out of their Tuesday evening at6 pm to come out here and be a
part of this, and so I thinkit's really emotional for me to
see parents and teens showingthat vulnerability and also
contributing to this movement ofreally talking about this and
(27:32):
really undoing the taboo aroundthis specific topic.
So that one was definitely oneof my favorite and most
memorable film screenings offentanyl high, also because a
lot of my best friends lived insanta cruz.
I'm always in santa cruz, so,yeah, that was, and it was a
beautiful venue too, so that wasone of my most memorable ones
(27:54):
what's your next film project?
currently I'm writing a lot ofshort film screenplays, working
on writing a screenplay for downthe line, but right now in
college I'm just doing as muchas I can to absorb, absorb,
absorb knowledge and learn asmuch as I can.
(28:17):
I'm currently an English major,so I'm absorbing and reading as
much as I can Because for me,knowledge is empowerment.
Knowledge and life experiencesshape the way you think For me
as an artist, what I create.
So at this age in college, I'mdoing as much as I can to create
that knowledge base so thatthat can fuel and inspire the
(28:41):
work that I will be creating.
So I am working right now tocreate supplementary content
under fentanyl high PSA campaignstyle videos that specifically
dive into the cultural taboo incommunities like the black
community, latino latinacommunity, asian community, what
(29:07):
within those communitiescontribute to self-medication
from a cultural standpoint, andso addressing that and
incorporating those perspectiveswithin those videos to really
address this epidemic from acultural standpoint.
That's what I'm currentlyworking on.
But in terms of other projects,this summer I have almost four
(29:30):
months of summer I will becreating a lot of short films
that will fuel the way that I'mprocessing the different things
that I'm learning, and I'm justdoing a lot of studies.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Would you consider a film on a different substance?
I mean, certainly in Californiamethamphetamine has been a bit
of a scourge, particularly withour homeless encampments.
You drive up and down ourfreeways and there's tents all
up and down them.
Is there another substance youhave an interest in studying?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Currently I haven't been looking into it.
I'm also currently proactivelystill distributing fentanyl high
to different communities acrossthe country.
So that has still been my mainfocus because we have been
trying to reach a lot of ruralcommunities in the Midwest and
even the South, and so that'sbeen my priority with that.
(30:29):
But I would be definitelyinterested in exploring other
substances because it'sdefinitely related to the same
message of the why behindself-medication and the dangers
of the different substances outthere.
So that is definitely somethingthat interests me.
But currently, with the amountof time that I have, I'm still
(30:50):
working to distribute Fennel Eyeand eventually we'll put it on
a platform, but we're justtrying to get that community
outreach as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
How was your movie received outside California,
where it was filmed as much aspossible?
How was your movie receivedoutside?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
California where it was filmed.
Yeah, we've had it in differentcommunities.
We had it screened inWashington, colorado, nevada,
massachusetts, south Carolinaand Indiana and so many other
states, even in Canada.
So we've been able to reallyget that out there within a
(31:26):
short amount of time.
But, like I was saying, withstigma, a lot of the rural
communities that we've screenedfentanyl high in there's a lot
of opposition to it due to thestigma around substance abuse.
It's like the ostrich stickingits head in the sand kind of
(31:46):
situation where they're justavoiding to talk about it,
hoping that that will just nothappen by not talking about it.
But we were able to breakthrough those stigmas and
actually get it screened andcollaborate with local officials
and schools and agencies tohost it and we're seeing a
(32:07):
demand for it.
So a lot of the communitiesthat we screen fentanyl high and
it creates almost a dominoeffect where you screen it once
and then another local schoolnearby will say what's that and
we want that screened, and thenit just kind of goes on from
there.
We did see that in Santa Cruz.
(32:27):
We've hosted over 10 screeningsin Santa Cruz throughout the
past year or so.
That's definitely a model thatwe look up to and that we are
trying to implement into all ofthe communities that we are
screening fentanyl in.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
You know it's funny, the other addiction doctor in my
practice who happens to be myspouse, the very lovely Dr Rev
Close.
She and I often use fightingfentanyl as a lead-in to our
lecture or a title, but you'reactually fighting fentanyl.
I mean, I have to say I'mhonored to get to speak to you.
You're 19 years old and you'vedone more for fighting back
(33:06):
against fentanyl than mostpeople I know, and I work in
drug and alcohol treatment.
That must be really empoweringto have been able to have made
such an impact.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Thank you.
It's hard sometimes A lot ofthe parents with whom I've
worked, after interviewing themand hearing their stories,
sometimes it's hard to sleepbecause I picture up in Taipei,
taiwan, where, in an Asiancommunity, in a public school
(33:44):
where it was completely, 100%Mandarin, and that community
growing up there, that, likemental health, isn't even talked
about there.
So drug abuse, substance abuse,that's not even on the radar.
And so when I moved back tothis country for seventh grade
and I walked in the bathroom andI see kids self-medicating in
(34:07):
seventh grade, it was a cultureshock for me.
So at a very young age I wasalready asking these questions
of why are these teensself-medicating?
It's not like everybody in ourschool is doing this.
For me at the time I only saw afew kids doing that in seventh
grade.
But to be self-medicating thatearly on in life, there's
(34:29):
something that they went throughthat contributed to them doing
that.
And so at a very young age, inseventh grade, you know I was
already asking those questionsand so you know time comes
around in high school wheresomebody almost dies on our
campus and we also had multiplepeople in our community die it
just.
It really all came together withjust me using my passion to
(34:54):
have that societal change andsocial justice aspect of my work
, and so I'm I'm'm grateful,very grateful, for everybody who
has helped me get to where I'mat, and everybody with whom I've
worked, everybody who made thisproject possible I had to
fundraise $75,000 to start thefilm and so all of the different
(35:17):
agencies, sponsors andorganizations that help
contribute to it.
It's just showing how communityeffort can then spark change,
and so that's really been.
It's been a therapeutic processfor me to work through my own
trauma and and experiences frommy past and to see that
(35:39):
everybody else is going throughsimilar things and, specifically
as a team, that we are allfiguring it out.
But in the meantime, instead ofturning towards unhealthy
coping mechanisms, we caninspire others to turn towards
positive outlets that can alsoinspire others to do the same
(35:59):
and create change.
So, for I felt that it wasreally important for me to take
that torch and show that wedon't have to turn to that and
that you can actually use yourpassion, use something you're
very passionate about, to createchange and inspire others and
(36:19):
inspire others.
And so it was a verytherapeutic process, not only
for me, but for everybody whoworked on the project.
So I'm just extremely gratefulfor everything that's gotten me
this far and gotten all the castmembers this far and gotten the
film this far.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Kyle, planet Earth and humanity are lucky to have
you.
This is incredible work thatyou are doing and I'm really
impressed with yourunderstanding of addiction as
people not understanding what todo when they don't feel good.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
We unfortunately have to wrap up, but tell me some
last thoughts you have on whatyou've learned about this
project and maybe some futureaspirations in your life around
how you've made such a positiveimpact around addiction with
this project and maybe whatyou've learned about what you
could do in the future ingeneral for us to create
(37:21):
opportunities forcross-collaboration between
government agencies, schools andother programs and
organizations that specificallydeal with substance abuse and
well-being for teens and mentalhealth, because a lot of times
as a teenager also being oncampus seeing the effort that a
(37:45):
lot of these organizations putinto awareness campaigns a lot
of times they do it on their owntype of situation and it's not
necessarily all coming togetheror it's very, very superficial
or it's very superficial.
So, for example, a lot of timesschools will just design and
(38:07):
create some type of poster thathas a lot of information about
signs of an overdose what to doif you run into somebody using
substances on campus and thenthey just put that in the
bathroom right next to the door,where everybody is just
focusing on leaving the bathroomand not looking at what's next
(38:27):
to the door.
So they're trying, but it's notenough.
Youth representatives that havethe opportunity to really
explain not only what is goingon, what is, what are we going
through as teens?
What do I feel like as a teenis going to benefit and inspire
(38:53):
other teens or get other teensto listen.
There really isn't thatincorporation of that teen
perspective a lot, and I thinkthat that really needs to change
.
We are seeing that more oftenand I think it's very, very
impactful.
There are different youthcommissions on a county level
(39:15):
that help create awarenessaround this, but I feel like
there just needs to be more ofthat on an administrator level,
within school districts andwithin schools, within
curriculum development.
An example of this is we had acurriculum in our district that
specifically was about DEI, withincorporating different youth
(39:41):
perspectives and youth storiesfrom different cultures, and for
a while I was the only teen onthat board of all adults
specifically talking about whatthey should do to inspire other
teens, and I was only on.
(40:02):
I only went to two meetings andthen I was never invited back.
And I get it.
There's a lot of bureaucracywithin administration and all of
that, but when it comes tosomething that is
life-threatening, such asfentanyl, I just I think that
there needs to be morecollaboration with that and more
incorporating teens.
(40:22):
I mean, I think that thereneeds to be more, more
collaboration with that and moreincorporating teens.
I mean especially with knowingthat teens are very high risk at
this age with experimentationand overdose.
So I just I feel like we as asociety, we as a culture, need
to change and destigmatize drug.
(40:44):
We need to incorporate theyouth voices or give the youth
(41:08):
the opportunity to be able totalk about their experiences and
also share what they thinkwould be beneficial for people
their age.
I think that that is such avaluable opportunity that we
need to give teenagers acrossthe country.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I agree.
Well, Kyle, I have learned somuch about your work today.
Thank you so much for your timeand for the great work that you
do.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Thank you so much, casey, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Before we wrap up, a huge thank you to the Montage
Health Foundation for backing mymission to create fun, engaging
education on addiction, and ashout out to the nonprofit
Central Coast OverdosePrevention for teaming up with
me on this podcast.
Our partnership helps me getthe word out about how to treat
addiction and prevent overdosesTo those healthcare providers
(42:00):
out there treating patients withaddiction.
You're doing life-saving workand thank you for what you do
For everyone else tuning in.
Thank you for taking the timeto learn about addiction.
It's a fight we cannot winwithout awareness and action.
There's still so much we can doto improve how addiction is
treated.
Together we can make it happen.
Thanks for listening andremember treating addiction
(42:22):
saves lives.
Welcome to the Addiction Medicine Made Easy
Podcast.
Hey there, I'm Dr Casey Grover,an addiction medicine doctor
based on California's CentralCoast.
(00:22):
For 14 years I worked in theemergency department, seeing
countless patients strugglingwith addiction.
Now I'm on the other side ofthe fight, helping people
rebuild their lives when drugsand alcohol take control.
Thanks for tuning in.
Let's get started.
I am really excited about thisepisode here in the United
(00:44):
States.
Fentanyl is a major problem.
It is the dominant opioid inthe illicit market and, as we
all know, it's extremely potentand has therefore caused
thousands and thousands ofoverdoses.
I am very grateful that, in myrole as an addiction medicine
doctor, I am part of the fightagainst fentanyl.
(01:05):
By treating patients withopioid use disorder, I help them
to stop using fentanyl.
Now you might think that ateenager who doesn't have any
medical training might feel thatshe or he couldn't do anything
about fentanyl, but for thisepisode, I had the honor and
pleasure to interview KyleSantoro, who is a 19-year-old
(01:28):
filmmaker who created adocumentary about fentanyl in
his community to educate aboutfentanyl and the reason why
teens use substances.
His documentary is calledFentanyl High.
I've seen it and it's reallywell done.
Is called Fentanyl High I'veseen it and it's really well
(01:48):
done.
Kyle and I spoke about hisdocumentary for this episode and
I learned so much about how wecan help teenagers who are using
substances.
If you want to learn aboutKyle's film, you can go to
fentanylhighcom.
And with that, let's get intomy conversation with Kyle, and
with that, let's get into myconversation with Kyle.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
All right, kyle.
Well, I am so honored to get tospeak to you today.
Tell us who you are and whatyou do.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
I'm Kyle Santoro.
I'm a 19-year-old, I'mcurrently a freshman at Ohio
State and I'm a filmmaker, andfor the past year and a half to
two years, I've been working onthe distribution of my first
feature film, fentanyl High,which specifically dives into
the teenage psychology behindsubstance abuse and the fentanyl
(02:35):
epidemic.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How did you get started on this topic?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, so specifically with this topic of teenage
substance abuse, it was duringmy junior year of high school.
We in the community in the LosGatos community I went to Los
Gatos High School we had a lotof overdoses, especially coming
out of COVID.
During COVID there were a lotof overdoses, and so there was
(03:18):
actually one of my peers oncampus that actually overdosed
in the bathroom on campus andthis was during the first day of
school and it was also thefirst day of our new principal's
job at the time and he was theone who had to revive him.
But after that incident itwasn't talked about.
Nobody really brought that up.
In fact, the school I don'tbelieve ever even admitted to
that happening, even thougheveryone saw the paramedics come
onto campus, everyone wasquestioning it, but it was never
(03:40):
addressed and nobody ever sawhim again.
He kind of moved away and andyou know that it just became
taboo to talk about that and itwas just never addressed.
And so you know it already hadme asking questions of why.
Why, first of all, was heexperimenting?
(04:01):
And of all, why was the schoolnot doing anything about this?
It's not like every kid isexperimenting with M30 pills on
campus.
So you know that's already ahard question of why that's
happening.
And it's an analogy that Iheard from a parent once was if
you walk in on a kid crying inthe school bathroom, you're
(04:24):
going to ask him why are youcrying?
You're going to ask him why areyou crying, you're going to
comfort him.
You're going to get theappropriate level of care for
that kid.
But with drugs, schools tend tospecifically go after them with
disciplinary actions ofexpulsion or suspending the kid.
Calling your parents.
That brings a level of shame, alevel of embarrassment to the
(04:44):
kid.
Calling your parents.
That brings a level of shame, alevel of embarrassment to the
teen and even in fact, a lot ofthe teens that are faced with
disciplinary actions on campustend to become even more down
low about their drug use or havemore secrecy around that.
So those administrators thathave these types of actions or
(05:05):
consequences for kids who usesubstances it's very outdated
and especially in a time wherefentanyl is so potent and so
dangerous.
He could have passed on campusand nobody wants that, and he
was 17 at the time and it's just.
There's always a reason behindit.
And it's just, there's always areason behind it and a lot of
(05:26):
teens fall into unhealthy copingmechanisms due to domestic
issues, peer pressure, you know,academic pressure there's so
many things that are going onduring teenagehood.
I feel like there are just somany reasons that contribute to
why somebody may self-medicateat a very young age.
And, you know, for aneducational standpoint we really
(05:51):
need to do better, not only aslocal communities, as educators,
as even a nation, to reallyaddress all this taboo around
substance abuse, because, youknow, teens should not be dying
of this.
And so that, just it really gotto me at that age, because
(06:12):
that's also an age whereexperimentation is very common
with alcohol, with drugs, withall kinds of stuff at that age,
and so that awareness just wasnot there on campus and I wanted
to use my passion of filmmakingto really bring that out and
actually inspire people toactually do the same with
(06:34):
creating a platform where peoplecan actually talk about this
and actually, because nobody wastaking that leadership and I
just felt like, you know, if noone's going to do this, why not
it be a teenager, so that otherteens can resonate with this
message of peer-to-peercommunication around this
(06:56):
specific topic of fentanyl andsubstance abuse so you are very
articulate in being able toshare what you know about
addiction.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
How much did you learn from making the film
itself versus what you knewbefore?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
so before I started the film I really I did not know
that much about the fentanylepidemic.
I didn't really know too muchabout substance abuse and the
causes behind it, the differentstigmas that are associated with
it, because I was 16 at thetime and so I was going through
(07:34):
all of this myself and blendinginto the high school population
and just trying to figure outmyself, figure out who I am.
But at that time I was justasking so many questions and so
it kind of led to this rabbithole of just digging deeper,
(07:54):
deeper, deeper, deeper.
And so throughout that processof research a lot just started
coming up, and during thefilmmaking process of
interacting with parents whohave lost their kids to fentanyl
within the past few yearsthey're just with each of their
unique answers and perspectives,it really made me realize that
(08:17):
there are so many layers tosubstance abuse and,
specifically with teenagers andthis whole epidemic, there are
just so many layers thatcontribute to it so that just it
had me.
It really made me branch outand really try to get all these
(08:37):
different perspectives.
So, for example, parents whohave lost their teens to
fentanyl poisoning, teens whowho experiment, government
officials their kind ofperspective on this.
Pediatricians who work directlywith teens who are coping with
substances, and county officials.
So just really creating thisgamma of perspectives to then
(09:03):
kind of align all the commonthemes that I'm seeing and also
the things that aren't workingand the things that are working
and kind of figuring out how canI make something out of that so
that everybody can reallyresonate with what is being
heard on the screen specifically.
But what I've learned throughoutthis process around substance
(09:27):
abuse is, like I was sayingearlier, there's always a reason
, and it's very personal a lotof times, or whether that's
influenced by your surroundings,your parents.
There's just so many reasonsthat somebody would choose that
and we as a society judge that,and that judgment can then
(09:47):
create stigma and differentharmful standards that we we
hold each other to, andespecially at a young age where
there's so much pressure that'sput on you, it's it's a very
hard thing to cope with becauseyou're also transitioning into
adulthood, you're transitioninginto a more mature identity that
(10:11):
is also forced upon you in alot of cases.
So bringing the teens who Iworked with in the project
really be able to talk abouttheir experiences, their
perspectives on it, what they'vegone through that made them
self-medicate.
It's just something that notonly I had never heard at the
(10:33):
time, but I knew that there's noway that you know they talk
about that that often with otherpeers.
And it's something that needsto be normalized because a lot
of the teens who worked on thisproject it was extremely
(10:54):
therapeutic for them to be ableto express themselves and also
express a lot of the pain andtrauma that they've experienced
in their lives that made themturn in that direction, towards
substances, and so it was verytherapeutic for them and in fact
a lot of them are actuallysober now after that project
because they were able to digdeeper in themselves and
(11:16):
discover their why, and in factsome of them even told me right
after I interviewed them for thefilm that that was the first
time they actually ever saidthat out loud and how they felt
about their situation and howthey turned to substances
because of certain experiencesthey had.
(11:36):
And so normalizing this type ofdiscussion is so important, you
know, not only for aneducational purpose but also
just personal human experience.
I mean it's just because it'staking an unhealthy form of
escapism and creating a positiveform of escapism out of it to
(11:57):
be able to express what you'vegone through and inspire others
to do the same, becauseinternalizing that at a very
young age can be super dangerouswith the amount of unhealthy
coping mechanisms out there andthe easy access that you can
have to substances throughsocial media, through technology
, and so it's just a differentlandscape than, for example,
(12:22):
like when my parents wereyounger, when they were my age,
you know, and especially withoverdosing, you had to take a
lot of something back then tooverdose.
Now it's just two milligrams.
You can be dead in the snap ofa finger.
So it's just, we have to changethe way we approach this type
of education around things thatare taboo.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So yeah, so I agree 100 with your message, and it's
funny because I had alwaysthought, oh yeah, addiction
they're just self-medicating.
And so then I went and becamean addiction medicine doctor and
had a slightly differentperspective.
But yeah, at its simplest,addiction is using substances to
self-regulate, right?
(13:05):
People don't like how they feel, so they find a substance.
I'm curious as to what you saidwhen you said some of the
students that you worked withfor the film got sober in the
process.
That, to me, was an unexpectedbenefit of your film.
I totally agree with you aboutraising awareness and making the
conversation easier.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Talk to me, obviously without naming any names, but
talk to me about what thosestudents who got sober as they
made the film, what theirexperience was so for the first
time, a lot of the teens whoworked on this project, they not
only in the process of eitheracting or being interviewed had
(13:47):
the opportunity to feel likethey were not being judged for
what they had to say out loud,because a lot of them did come
from environments at home wherethey just did not have any type
of open line of communication ortrust with their parents, so
they never actually even talkedabout things that could
(14:07):
potentially create uncomfortableconversations.
So for them to be able to onset when we were all working
together and it's all teensworking with teens, so it's
people who you relate to at thesame age and you're going
through a lot together.
We all went through COVIDtogether.
We knew how that was and howisolating that was, how people
(14:30):
felt, just so, so down at thattime, and so for us to all come
together and have an opportunityto express ourselves, express
our opinions and really accepteach other.
I think that really created asafe environment for those teens
to acknowledge their past,acknowledge their experiences
(14:54):
and really find peace with itand move on with it and move on
Also with the film events thatwe were able to do.
That was the first time wherethey got to publicly speak about
their experience and a lot oftimes like, for example, we did
a screening at a middle schoolfor their sixth, seventh and
(15:14):
eighth grade body and it was thefirst time where they had the
opportunity to talk in front ofteens who were younger than them
and actually inspire them.
And so I think that thatopportunity that the film gave
them was so therapeutic in termsof not only accepting and
(15:39):
acknowledging their situationand being able to piece that
together with the why behindtheir substance abuse, but also
to see it as a positive thingthat can then push them in a
direction where they can inspireother teens who maybe are going
through the same thing tochange that.
And so it was just there's somany angles that that contribute
(16:03):
to it.
But I think, most of all, themost important thing that they
were able to get out of workingon this project was just not
internalizing their situation,not feeling like they're a
pariah at this age, and I thinkthat, and also just seeing
change.
I mean we were able to getschools to be able to
(16:28):
incorporate this into theircurriculum, and so we've had
schools license it as a part oftheir PE curriculum, a part of
their yearly assemblies thatthey're going to be screening to
teens and families.
So I think for them to be ableto see their story and their
message that is so personal tothem, inspire teens and families
(16:50):
to create that open line ofcommunication that they may not
have had growing up is somethingthat inspired them to want to
do more of that, to do moreinspiring, to then work on
themselves and create positivecoping mechanisms, positive
outlets for themselves.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
You talked about doing screenings and we've
screened your movie at severalevents here on the central coast
of California.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Talk to me about how you actually set up a screening
and the type of impact that youwant your movie to have engage
with communities or topics thatthe film covers specifically
around mental health, substanceabuse, lgbtq, wellness centers,
(17:50):
acceptance programs there's justso many perspectives that the
film covers, and so what we dowith the film screenings, we try
to incorporate all thoseagencies and have them be
present at the film screenings,in collaboration with the
schools, school districts,within that local community, to
create a community event wherewe are screening the movie, we
(18:10):
are distributing resourcesaround those specific topics,
around mental health, substanceabuse, treatment for teens and
wellness centers, and then alsodistributing free naloxone at
all of the film screenings tothen have that take action step
after the film screening thatyou can have this device that
can potentially save lives.
So you're walking out of thefilm screening after watching
(18:34):
the film with all of themessages from the film and then
having something in the lobbywith resources and with naloxone
, to then feel like you'recontributing to this movement of
educating teens aroundsubstance abuse and also
potentially being able to save alife.
And so, with the impact that wewant with these film screenings
(19:00):
specifically, we really wantnot only teens and parents to
know that if you're ever handeda pill, you should just assume
that it can kill you.
That's the first message andthe second message would be
don't assume like for parents,don't assume that your kid is
(19:22):
not going to be that kid who mayexperiment with that.
It's just a lot of the parentswith whom I've worked thought
the same thing my kid wouldnever do that, or our community
doesn't really have that kind ofproblem.
My neighborhood doesn't reallydo that and so it's assuming is
so dangerous nowadays.
And I feel like reallymaintaining that open line of
(19:45):
communication within thehousehold, making sure that your
teen trusts you, that you havea safe environment where your
teen can come to you foranything really just, really
just.
It helps to prevent that,because if your teenager is not
receiving affection, validation,attention from you, they're
(20:07):
going to go look for that inother places, whether that be
parties, whether that be otherplaces outside of your household
that may contain unhealthycoping mechanisms such as drugs,
alcohol.
You just have to show your kidthat you care, you know, and
that could be as easy as justhaving real, sincere
(20:27):
conversations with them all thetime, but then also not avoiding
uncomfortable topics, because alot of times you'll.
You will surprise your teen ifyou actually embrace it and they
actually want that.
They want to be able to trustyou.
They want somebody there to bethere when they're feeling down,
when they're feeling upset,when they're feeling insecure,
(20:48):
because this, like I said, this,is a very hard age.
I'm going through it myself.
As a teenager, you're justyou're, you're figuring out what
your purpose is in this world,and so to have an open line of
communication, have people whoyou can trust by your side,
whether that's in your household, your friends, somebody who is
(21:11):
so close to you, it's just soimportant for you to be able to
navigate this life, this currentsituation that we're going
through as teenagers.
As a country, there's justthere's so much there, and so I
feel like, on the educationalside of things, schools really
need to be more proactive aroundthis.
(21:33):
Multiple situations withcommunities where high schools
avoided hosting a film screeningof fentanyl high because they
didn't want to be labeled as aschool that has a drug problem.
They didn't want bad press fortheir school.
That, in my opinion, isshort-term thinking, because if
(21:56):
you were to have a teen in yourcommunity, a teen on your campus
overdose from fentanyl, thatbad press is coming to you
anyways.
So you really need to be hyperaware of the fact that this is
everywhere.
This isn't some far issuethat's outside of your community
(22:17):
.
It's most likely in yourcommunity, but you are avoiding
talking about it.
So it's something that needs tobe incorporated within an
administrator standpoint or acurriculum-based program where
we are educating teens not onlyabout the drug epidemic, about
fentanyl, but about the teenagepsychology behind substance
(22:39):
abuse.
What are you going through as ateenager that may lead you to
self-medication?
Because I think a lot of teens,especially with stereotypes,
with different cliques in highschool, you can just assume that
a certain group of kids in highschool are going through that.
They're going to beself-medicating and we should
just avoid that group of kids.
(22:59):
That is not true at all andstereotypes clicks.
You know the way we view viewkids in high school like that.
It's so outdated and it's notaccurate at all.
Every kid is going throughsomething, and so we as a
community, as a society, need toacknowledge that and really
(23:22):
just have conversations aboutthese tough topics and really
embrace it, not only from adomestic standpoint, but also
from an educational standpoint,because we don't need more
teenagers dying in this societyright now, because teenagers are
going to be shaping our futureand so we really need to be
preserving the lives ofteenagers right now, and so I
(23:45):
think the best way we can dothat is coming together, and so
that's also why the model of thefilm screenings we host at
Fenton Ohio incorporates all ofthese different agencies,
different organizations thatcome together to support this
message of acceptance andacknowledgement around substance
abuse and teenage psychology.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Can you give me an example of a screening that went
particularly well?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, we actually.
One of my most memorable oneswas the May 2nd film screening
of Fennel High at the RealTheater in Santa Cruz.
That was one of our mostsuccessful ones by far we had.
And all the film screeningsthat we host are free, so
(24:34):
there's no financial commitmentto them.
So we have to over market a lotof these events to really have
a full house.
And so the real theater filmscreening we had so many
organizations come together tohost that screening and we had
around 400 people show up forthat event.
(24:55):
And we host these events onweekdays because we tend to
avoid weekends, where peoplehave a lot of plans and you're
trying to relax.
So you know, tuesdays,wednesdays, thursdays are
usually best depending on thecommunity as well, and usually I
sit at the back of the filmscreenings and I just watch
(25:15):
people's reactions.
People's reactions and theamount of teens and parents that
I saw lean on each other'sshoulders throughout the film
was really touching for me tojust see them embrace each other
.
It's something that you reallydon't see.
That often I've seen parentsjust crying and hugging their
teens and it's just, it's movingto see that teens are being
(25:43):
vulnerable and parents areacknowledging their teens and
showing affection and, most ofall, I just think, as a
community having thatvulnerability and showcasing it.
I just think it's so powerful tosee that, and so we usually
(26:03):
also have a panel discussionright after the film screening
of the movie, which hasdifferent perspectives, such as
first responders, public healthofficials, parents who have lost
their teens to fentanyl fromthat specific community teens,
and sometimes myself included.
But it helps to create thatcommunity connection, to show
(26:30):
that this is right.
Here in our community, ourfirst responders, our paramedics
in our community are on thefront line doing everything they
can to help our teens.
Our parents who have lost teensin our community are doing
everything they can to spreadawareness within our community.
Our public health officials aretrying their best, and so it's
really showing the communityeffort.
(26:51):
But then also, you know, havingthat realization that it's not
some epidemic that's far away,it's right here in our community
and we need to be proactiveabout it.
And so I think that the filmscreening at the Rio Theater was
a great example of that,because people are taking time
(27:12):
out of their Tuesday evening at6 pm to come out here and be a
part of this, and so I thinkit's really emotional for me to
see parents and teens showingthat vulnerability and also
contributing to this movement ofreally talking about this and
(27:32):
really undoing the taboo aroundthis specific topic.
So that one was definitely oneof my favorite and most
memorable film screenings offentanyl high, also because a
lot of my best friends lived insanta cruz.
I'm always in santa cruz, so,yeah, that was, and it was a
beautiful venue too, so that wasone of my most memorable ones
(27:54):
what's your next film project?
currently I'm writing a lot ofshort film screenplays, working
on writing a screenplay for downthe line, but right now in
college I'm just doing as muchas I can to absorb, absorb,
absorb knowledge and learn asmuch as I can.
(28:17):
I'm currently an English major,so I'm absorbing and reading as
much as I can Because for me,knowledge is empowerment.
Knowledge and life experiencesshape the way you think For me
as an artist, what I create.
So at this age in college, I'mdoing as much as I can to create
that knowledge base so thatthat can fuel and inspire the
(28:41):
work that I will be creating.
So I am working right now tocreate supplementary content
under fentanyl high PSA campaignstyle videos that specifically
dive into the cultural taboo incommunities like the black
community, latino latinacommunity, asian community, what
(29:07):
within those communitiescontribute to self-medication
from a cultural standpoint, andso addressing that and
incorporating those perspectiveswithin those videos to really
address this epidemic from acultural standpoint.
That's what I'm currentlyworking on.
But in terms of other projects,this summer I have almost four
(29:30):
months of summer I will becreating a lot of short films
that will fuel the way that I'mprocessing the different things
that I'm learning, and I'm justdoing a lot of studies.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Would you consider a film on a different substance?
I mean, certainly in Californiamethamphetamine has been a bit
of a scourge, particularly withour homeless encampments.
You drive up and down ourfreeways and there's tents all
up and down them.
Is there another substance youhave an interest in studying?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Currently I haven't been looking into it.
I'm also currently proactivelystill distributing fentanyl high
to different communities acrossthe country.
So that has still been my mainfocus because we have been
trying to reach a lot of ruralcommunities in the Midwest and
even the South, and so that'sbeen my priority with that.
(30:29):
But I would be definitelyinterested in exploring other
substances because it'sdefinitely related to the same
message of the why behindself-medication and the dangers
of the different substances outthere.
So that is definitely somethingthat interests me.
But currently, with the amountof time that I have, I'm still
(30:50):
working to distribute Fennel Eyeand eventually we'll put it on
a platform, but we're justtrying to get that community
outreach as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
How was your movie received outside California,
where it was filmed as much aspossible?
How was your movie receivedoutside?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
California where it was filmed.
Yeah, we've had it in differentcommunities.
We had it screened inWashington, colorado, nevada,
massachusetts, south Carolinaand Indiana and so many other
states, even in Canada.
So we've been able to reallyget that out there within a
(31:26):
short amount of time.
But, like I was saying, withstigma, a lot of the rural
communities that we've screenedfentanyl high in there's a lot
of opposition to it due to thestigma around substance abuse.
It's like the ostrich stickingits head in the sand kind of
(31:46):
situation where they're justavoiding to talk about it,
hoping that that will just nothappen by not talking about it.
But we were able to breakthrough those stigmas and
actually get it screened andcollaborate with local officials
and schools and agencies tohost it and we're seeing a
(32:07):
demand for it.
So a lot of the communitiesthat we screen fentanyl high and
it creates almost a dominoeffect where you screen it once
and then another local schoolnearby will say what's that and
we want that screened, and thenit just kind of goes on from
there.
We did see that in Santa Cruz.
(32:27):
We've hosted over 10 screeningsin Santa Cruz throughout the
past year or so.
That's definitely a model thatwe look up to and that we are
trying to implement into all ofthe communities that we are
screening fentanyl in.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
You know it's funny, the other addiction doctor in my
practice who happens to be myspouse, the very lovely Dr Rev
Close.
She and I often use fightingfentanyl as a lead-in to our
lecture or a title, but you'reactually fighting fentanyl.
I mean, I have to say I'mhonored to get to speak to you.
You're 19 years old and you'vedone more for fighting back
(33:06):
against fentanyl than mostpeople I know, and I work in
drug and alcohol treatment.
That must be really empoweringto have been able to have made
such an impact.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Thank you.
It's hard sometimes A lot ofthe parents with whom I've
worked, after interviewing themand hearing their stories,
sometimes it's hard to sleepbecause I picture up in Taipei,
taiwan, where, in an Asiancommunity, in a public school
(33:44):
where it was completely, 100%Mandarin, and that community
growing up there, that, likemental health, isn't even talked
about there.
So drug abuse, substance abuse,that's not even on the radar.
And so when I moved back tothis country for seventh grade
and I walked in the bathroom andI see kids self-medicating in
(34:07):
seventh grade, it was a cultureshock for me.
So at a very young age I wasalready asking these questions
of why are these teensself-medicating?
It's not like everybody in ourschool is doing this.
For me at the time I only saw afew kids doing that in seventh
grade.
But to be self-medicating thatearly on in life, there's
(34:29):
something that they went throughthat contributed to them doing
that.
And so at a very young age, inseventh grade, you know I was
already asking those questionsand so you know time comes
around in high school wheresomebody almost dies on our
campus and we also had multiplepeople in our community die it
just.
It really all came together withjust me using my passion to
(34:54):
have that societal change andsocial justice aspect of my work
, and so I'm I'm'm grateful,very grateful, for everybody who
has helped me get to where I'mat, and everybody with whom I've
worked, everybody who made thisproject possible I had to
fundraise $75,000 to start thefilm and so all of the different
(35:17):
agencies, sponsors andorganizations that help
contribute to it.
It's just showing how communityeffort can then spark change,
and so that's really been.
It's been a therapeutic processfor me to work through my own
trauma and and experiences frommy past and to see that
(35:39):
everybody else is going throughsimilar things and, specifically
as a team, that we are allfiguring it out.
But in the meantime, instead ofturning towards unhealthy
coping mechanisms, we caninspire others to turn towards
positive outlets that can alsoinspire others to do the same
(35:59):
and create change.
So, for I felt that it wasreally important for me to take
that torch and show that wedon't have to turn to that and
that you can actually use yourpassion, use something you're
very passionate about, to createchange and inspire others and
(36:19):
inspire others.
And so it was a verytherapeutic process, not only
for me, but for everybody whoworked on the project.
So I'm just extremely gratefulfor everything that's gotten me
this far and gotten all the castmembers this far and gotten the
film this far.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Kyle, planet Earth and humanity are lucky to have
you.
This is incredible work thatyou are doing and I'm really
impressed with yourunderstanding of addiction as
people not understanding what todo when they don't feel good.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
We unfortunately have to wrap up, but tell me some
last thoughts you have on whatyou've learned about this
project and maybe some futureaspirations in your life around
how you've made such a positiveimpact around addiction with
this project and maybe whatyou've learned about what you
could do in the future ingeneral for us to create
(37:21):
opportunities forcross-collaboration between
government agencies, schools andother programs and
organizations that specificallydeal with substance abuse and
well-being for teens and mentalhealth, because a lot of times
as a teenager also being oncampus seeing the effort that a
(37:45):
lot of these organizations putinto awareness campaigns a lot
of times they do it on their owntype of situation and it's not
necessarily all coming togetheror it's very, very superficial
or it's very superficial.
So, for example, a lot of timesschools will just design and
(38:07):
create some type of poster thathas a lot of information about
signs of an overdose what to doif you run into somebody using
substances on campus and thenthey just put that in the
bathroom right next to the door,where everybody is just
focusing on leaving the bathroomand not looking at what's next
(38:27):
to the door.
So they're trying, but it's notenough.
Youth representatives that havethe opportunity to really
explain not only what is goingon, what is, what are we going
through as teens?
What do I feel like as a teenis going to benefit and inspire
(38:53):
other teens or get other teensto listen.
There really isn't thatincorporation of that teen
perspective a lot, and I thinkthat that really needs to change
.
We are seeing that more oftenand I think it's very, very
impactful.
There are different youthcommissions on a county level
(39:15):
that help create awarenessaround this, but I feel like
there just needs to be more ofthat on an administrator level,
within school districts andwithin schools, within
curriculum development.
An example of this is we had acurriculum in our district that
specifically was about DEI, withincorporating different youth
(39:41):
perspectives and youth storiesfrom different cultures, and for
a while I was the only teen onthat board of all adults
specifically talking about whatthey should do to inspire other
teens, and I was only on.
(40:02):
I only went to two meetings andthen I was never invited back.
And I get it.
There's a lot of bureaucracywithin administration and all of
that, but when it comes tosomething that is
life-threatening, such asfentanyl, I just I think that
there needs to be morecollaboration with that and more
incorporating teens.
(40:22):
I mean, I think that thereneeds to be more, more
collaboration with that and moreincorporating teens.
I mean especially with knowingthat teens are very high risk at
this age with experimentationand overdose.
So I just I feel like we as asociety, we as a culture, need
to change and destigmatize drug.
(40:44):
We need to incorporate theyouth voices or give the youth
(41:08):
the opportunity to be able totalk about their experiences and
also share what they thinkwould be beneficial for people
their age.
I think that that is such avaluable opportunity that we
need to give teenagers acrossthe country.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I agree.
Well, Kyle, I have learned somuch about your work today.
Thank you so much for your timeand for the great work that you
do.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Thank you so much, casey, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Before we wrap up, a huge thank you to the Montage
Health Foundation for backing mymission to create fun, engaging
education on addiction, and ashout out to the nonprofit
Central Coast OverdosePrevention for teaming up with
me on this podcast.
Our partnership helps me getthe word out about how to treat
addiction and prevent overdosesTo those healthcare providers
(42:00):
out there treating patients withaddiction.
You're doing life-saving workand thank you for what you do
For everyone else tuning in.
Thank you for taking the timeto learn about addiction.
It's a fight we cannot winwithout awareness and action.
There's still so much we can doto improve how addiction is
treated.
Together we can make it happen.
Thanks for listening andremember treating addiction
(42:22):
saves lives.
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