ashleyvbaird

[ashleyvbaird]

Final Wrap Up

We've reached the end of the semester and with that the end of the project. To wrap up I've included screenshots below of both my finished podcast, uploaded and ready to go, as well as a screenshot of my finished poster series.

I am very happy with the work I produced and learnt many things on the way to the final product. I still have a few loose ends to tie up, in that I must complete my analysis of both pieces as well as choose a way to format/present my posters, but regardless, that is it from me and this project!

[ashleyvbaird]

Poster Adjustments

After receiving some feedback around my posters here is what I have at the moment.

The first three posters below have elements I enjoy and that I used initially when first testing out poster ideas. These elements, including the text, the logo, and the font, are all things I wish to use in my final posters. However, I am struggling with deciding on whether I want to keep it simple or be more creative. As seen, I used a splatter effect over these posters to tie them to the aim of my media outputs, which is to raise awareness for Narcan (a nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioids). I think the technique works on a certain level but I am still unsure about it. I keep going back and forth about if it looks better with just the image, the text, and the black and white filter, or if I should add an extra design element so it isn't too boring.

For now, I have copies of both the above posters, with the added element, as well as the below posters that are much more simple. I still have time to decide on which I will go for, and plan to get some final feedback next week to hopefully help me in this decision.

I also am yet to decide on what I should write at the bottom of each poster. I am thinking a short message about what Narcan is and how to use, but as I mentioned I still have time to figure out what exactly I want it to say.

[ashleyvbaird]

More Progress with the Podcast

As mentioned in my previous post, I worked on recording the podcast this week. I decided to just use my phone and materials I had at home to record the final podcast to save time, as I am quick running out of it!

After recording it I got straight to work on editing the pod using Adobe Audition. I spent a few hours making it as seamless and clean as possible, adding backing music and such to reach a professional finish. I even leveled out the sound and adjusted it so it sounded like I was speaking at a consistent volume for the entire of the episode. I then placed it into Adobe Audio Enhancer to further clean up any background noise.

I am now at the stage where I am happy with my recording and am ready to upload it to a platform. I am hoping to use Spotify as my host, since it is a platform I am familiar with. I have never uploaded anything to Spotify so am hoping I have given myself enough time to figure that out and worse case scenario will be that I can upload it to another streaming platform.

The last thing I have to do for my Podcast is to create the cover art/ image to associate it with. I have ideas and different iterations of possible logos/art but I am not loving any of them, so will continue to brainstorm that.

[ashleyvbaird]

Refined Podcast Script

After submitting my Work in Progress assignment, I continued on my podcast script, adding and refining details of it. I am now happy with what I have in terms of content and am ready to record. I am going to record the entire podcast over, scrapping the first 2 and half minutes I submitted as my Work in Progress, due to the fact I had Covid when recording that and sounded terrible!

I aim to have the podcast recorded next week which should give me ample time to then edit, add music, find a way to host it on Spotify, add my cover art and finish it to a high standard. My only concern is that the podcast may be under 10 minutes, compared to my initial idea that it would be 10-15 minutes, however, I don't want to add things in just for the sake of making it longer. So for now I am happy with my script and don't think I will make any changes, unless it turns out to be extremely short in length.

Below is the another snippet of my script (I would include the entire script but its over 1000 words and you'll hear it soon enough anyway):

And to reiterate how incredibly life changing Narcan can be, I will now share a story that has come out of America about a 16-year-old whose life was saved by Narcan. In September of 2021, Sofia Christoff took a Percocet pill, unaware that it was laced with fentanyl. Her father, Ryan Christoff found her in her bedroom unresponsive and barely breathing. He immediately called 911 and performed chest compressions until help arrived. Body-cam footage shows Sergeant David Cohen entering the home and taking over the chest compressions, asking Sofia’s father if she takes narcotics. To the fathers knowledge she hadn’t, but with the Sergeants experience and his assessment of Sofia’s situation he quickly administered Narcan. Him doing so saved her life. Within seconds her breathing started again and she was taken to a hospital where she was monitored for some hours before being released. Sergeant Cohen was later interviewed, saying that if it's not needed and you use Narcan, there will be no harm caused. But if it is needed and you use it, it's only going to do good. This story of survival is just one of thousands, however, not everyone's story ends as Sofia’s did. Countless individuals lose their lives to Fentanyl, with over 100,000 deaths in the US alone last year, which is why it is so important that 1) we know about Narcan and how it works and 2) we have access to Narcan. Because we can change that number. We can bring the number of deaths down by a myriad. Narcan can change that number. 

That concludes this episode of Dropping the F Bomb, a podcast in partnership with the Be Safe Not Sorry campaign. We hope that you have learnt something from this conversation and that you share this knowledge with those around you. If after all of this information you are still eager to know more be sure to check out besafenotsorry.co.nz, which has a whole lot more info as well as links to helplines. Really it's got every resource you might need so be sure to check that out and we’ll see you next time. 

[ashleyvbaird]

Designs for Potential Podcast image

Here are three different designs I made in photoshop:

I am still unsure which of these I prefer most or if I will even use these iterations for my final podcast project. But for now I think I will decide which I want to include as the cover image for my work in progress submission and from there if I do get a new idea or want to change elements of a design I have already made, I can do so for the final product.

[ashleyvbaird]

Poster Concepts

Below I have included some of the unedited photos I took to use in my posters.

These images alone are quite ordinary and not very eye-catching, which is why the editing process is key for me. For the final products I hope to shoot in a variety of locations to create more interesting work and so as not to rely solely on editing, but because of certain circumstances this background was all that was available to shoot my initial portraits.

Here is what I have come up with in terms of the edited products/posters:

I think they look good but could use some more work and rearranging before I am 100% happy with them. My main struggle has been in deciding what fonts to use and how to use them in a creative but readable way. I feel as though every combination I have created is either too plain or too busy with the edits, which is why I plan to shoot at different locations so as to have a little bit more going on with the actual photograph and rely less on adding elements in post-production. However, for a work in progress I think the way I approached the task was simple and the outcome is solid.

[ashleyvbaird]

Podcast Logo/Cover Image

I have been thinking about how to host my podcast and what other aspects I will have to think about for the final product to be the industry standard for a podcast. That being said I have been brainstorming about potential logo ideas for the brand/campaign. The following are a selection of pictures and logos found on Pinterest that I will use as a starting point in creating my cover image/logo for the podcast.

I really want to incorporate the pill motif in one way or another which is why in the above mood board the images mostly include that idea, however, I also think it would be interesting to use the chemical symbol for Fentanyl in some way. For now I will test out a few designs but I understand it likely that I may land on a completely different design from what I submit in my work in progress to the final.

[ashleyvbaird]

Podcast Script

I have been slowly but surely working on a final draft of my script for the podcast episode. At this stage I would say I have the majority of it written and confirmed, however, I am giving myself room in that if I start to record it and find that it isn't flowing as smooth as I'd like or if it isn't making sense I can tweak the script to fix any of these issues. I had planned to record it earlier this week but covid has gotten in the way of that ! So I am hoping that by Wednesday I will at least have a short snippet I can submit for my work in progress.

For now, here is the first two or three minutes I have of my script that I will be turning in as my work in progress:

Welcome and Intro:

Welcome in to this week's episode of dropping the F Bomb, hosted by myself, Ashley. Before we get started, today's instalment is brought to you in partnership with the Be Safe Not Sorry campaign, who are taking a stand against the opioid crisis through their many resources and ads. So a big thank you to them and if you're interested in finding out more about their ongoing work, be sure to check out besafenotsorry.co.nz. Now, on to the main event. Actually, another thing I will say before we get into it is that this podcast will be dealing with some pretty heavy topics such as substance abuse, overdoses, addiction, so if anything along those lines is triggering to you, just keep in mind that they will be discussed. Again if you need resources about where you can go for help Be Safe Not Sorry is a great place to start. So, you may have just heard me mention the opioid crisis and if you're thinking ‘well what exactly is that’, keep listening because that is the focus of this episode and I will be explaining this and more.

Start of Main Points:

The opioid crisis, or on a smaller scale the Fentanyl crisis, is the rapid increase we have seen in the abuse and misuse of the class of drugs known as opioids. Fentanyl specifically is a synthetic opioid most comparable to morphine, the main difference being that Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful than the latter. It is a prescription drug typically used to treat patients with severe pain, however, it is also a drug that is made and used illegally, which is what I will be looking into today. In terms of its physical form, when prescribed by a doctor, Fentanyl can be given through a shot, a patch on the skin or even as a lozenge. In the case of illicitly manufactured Fentanyl, which is made synthetically in labs, its form varies from a powder, to a liquid, but the most common and most deadly is a pill that is often made to look like other common opioids. This last form is the most dangerous and the reason why there has been such a spike in Fentanyl related overdoses and deaths. This is because many people may be unaware they are taking Fentanyl-laced pills, being that it is almost impossible to tell whether drugs have any level of Fentanyl in them unless tested with Fentanyl test strips. Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs such as heroin, MDMA and cocaine because of its extreme potency and how little of it is needed in order to produce a high. This also means it is much cheaper than alternatives because of how powerful just a small amount can be. That is just the basics of the drug and all of what I've just said explains why it has become such an issue for young people and if it wasn't already clear, it is a very deadly issue.

[ashleyvbaird]

Ideas for Photographs and Posters

Now is the time when I am starting to think about putting together my media projects and getting stuck in to the work in progress stage. I have yet to take any final photos, however, I have played around with some test shots so that I can begin placing text and laying out what I want the final posters to look like. This post is going to include a few of the design elements I wish to use as well as a brainstorm of the text I wish to place on the mixed media photographs.

To begin, pictured below are a few different type faces I am considering using. I have yet to make a decision whether I want a more visually arresting font or if I keep it simple so as not to distract from the image. These three fonts are only a small sample from the many that I am considering using:

As for the actual words, I have come up with a few short phrases or sentences to use on my posters. They are as follows:

Fentanyl is not your friend

Fentanyl kills

Better to be safe than dead

Don't die before your time

Save a life. Carry Narcan.

I have not made a decision as to whether I want all 5 of my final photographs to have the same text element or if I should have an array of posters that are different but still complement each other.

Much of these questions and decisions I have brought up in this post will be answered when I start putting together the test shots and text, having a play around with what my end goal is. I hope to do this during the next week or so, so that I can start thinking about taking my final photos and give myself enough time to edit and design these. As well as this I have also tasked myself with drafting up a podcast script in the next week.

[ashleyvbaird]

Podcast Ideas

Before I start this entry, I want to share the name I have decided on for my overall project; Be Safe Not Sorry.

For this blog post I want to start looking at some talking points I can go over in my podcast episode. As I have said in both previous posts and in my proposal document, my aim is to create an informative podcast discussing pertinent aspects of the topic as well as sharing a real life story. The following list contains all my ideas of what I could possibly talk about and discuss, as well as a few links to stories of people who have either lost someone to Fentanyl poisoning or have been saved by Narcan/Naloxone.

Potential discussion topics:

What is Fentanyl?

What is an opioid?

What exactly is the opioid crisis?

Discuss some of the research and information I've found

Maybe ask some friends if they know anything about it and add those clips in - ask if they know what Narcan is to show that maybe not a lot of people are aware of it and its use

Share some resources where listeners can go to find further information

I will be adding to and changing this list as I get more ideas and start to form a solid structure for my podcast episode.

Below are a few news articles and webpages I found detailing how Narcan saved a life. I also included a stuff news article talking about how Narcan is to become more accessible in New Zealand:

[ashleyvbaird]

Mood Board

A shorter post this week but a post nonetheless.

I thought I would collect some of the visual references I have found from Pinterest and create a mood board with potential ideas and concepts. The above images include an array of different ideas such as portrait shots using different lighting and poses, the use of the pill motif, lots of black and white images, as well as some more brightly colored ones and a few photos that show I can get creative with my topic.

Again these are simply ideas that I hope to take small elements from to use in my own photography project. In terms of making final decisions about my photo series, once assessment one is handed in I will focus much of my time on selecting a theme or style for my photos and making set choices about the photos I wish to shoot.

[ashleyvbaird]

Inspiration for my Media Projects

Today's post will focus on a handful of examples I have found of ad campaigns and media projects to do with drug overdose and Fentanyl use. By the end of this week's blog I hope to be inspired by these works and start to conceptualize potential ideas for my own media outcomes, as well as decide on a name for my project. I will include many reference images and posters, discussing elements of them that I can then use as a starting point for planning out my own work. 

The first campaign I landed on was created and produced by a company called Havas Lynx who specialize in healthcare communications. The powerful posters designed for the campaign encourage the carrying of Naloxone/Narcan as it can save lives. The aim of the posters is to alert people to revolutionary medicine, educating communities about overdoses and ways they can help. Rob Jenkins, the agency's creative director, is quoted as saying ‘...however incredible naloxone is, it can’t save a life on its own. It takes the decision to carry it, to do that.’ I have included just four of the many moving and honest posters created for this campaign below as examples. Quote and images found from this source: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/havas-lynx-harry-f-conway-hidden-lifesavers-advertising-280921 

There are many visual aspects of these posters that I think work really well for this sort of campaign. First of all the black and white filter over the images and design create a solemn mood, appropriate for such a serious topic as this one. The text aspect is done nicely, the font size drawing the eye to it, making it the focal point of the poster. The statements used are polarizing, in a way where someone viewing the poster is more than likely to take a second to read the smaller information because they wish to know more. Lastly the images of the people are again a powerful tool in pulling everything together. It makes the campaign seem more real when there are real people attached to it, allowing the public to see that this is a crisis affecting real human beings in their communities.   After seeing these posters and the response to the campaign (an overwhelmingly positive one) I may think more about doing a series of posters instead of just images. Words are powerful and after some thought and research I think it would be beneficial for me to use them in my photography project.

The second campaign I found focuses less specifically on Fentanyl and Narcan, and more generally on the effects of drugs and overdoses. The campaign is run by a non-profit organization in Norway, whose goal is to educate people about the safe use of drugs, their slogan being ‘Knowledge can save lives’. Similar to the first campaign I mentioned, this project uses simple imagery paired with powerful words to get their message across, as seen in the examples below. Information and images found from: https://www.boredpanda.com/rusopplysningen-drug-overdose-prevention-ads/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Again, there are elements in these designs that I think could work really well for my projects. I like that all the people in the images are looking directly at the camera, connecting them to the viewer of the poster. The use of subtle colors, especially in the second image, look visually very appealing. A decision I will have to make is whether I want to go for a more hopeful tone, in which case the use of colour will work in my favor, or a more serious tone in which I convey the dangers of drugs, where black and white may work better.  The text in these examples is much smaller, the main focus being on the faces. I personally think that if I were to add text to my project, I would want it to be a large focal point rather than a smaller off to the side element.

Lastly, here are a few examples of posters and campaigns that only had a single poster or image as the face of the project, but that I still wanted to include. Images all found from a google search using the key words 'Fentanyl Awareness Poster'

These posters have more of a mixed media/design approach, using a combination of photography, vectors, typography and more. I chose to include some of these images to keep in mind that I have complete creative freedom with what I want to do, and can achieve a high quality poster/photography series using a range of different techniques, no one way better than the other.

As for a name for my project, below is a list of potential ideas that I will add to as I see fit. I will come back to this list in a future post and select the name that has stuck out to me / the one I have thought about most over the week or so between entries.

The Devil on Your Shoulder

Hidden in Plain Sight

Choose not to Use

Be Safe not Sorry

Refuse to Use

Awareness is Everything

Educate to Eradicate

The F Bomb (Fentanyl)

[ashleyvbaird]

Thoughts After First Tutorial

After attending the first tutorial I feel I want to add on to the previous post with some more information found from articles and websites to do with personal stories involving Fentanyl as well as giving a few statistics about the drug. The information I will provide was found during the tutorial when we were asked to look for stories, interviews, articles, data, issues, target audience, details, evidence, case studies or current scene in relation to our topic. I will also attach my mind-map I created during the tutorial time below.

The first piece of evidence I found was an article from the Washington Post which provided some stats on the increase of Fentanyl use in the USA from 2019-2021. At the height of the pandemic, fatal overdoses surged 94% and a total of 196 Americans a day are still dying from the drug. This piece of data is a good starting point for me to now look at New Zealand statistics so I can then compare the two and look for trends. Keeping my project to a New Zealand perspective is what I aim to do and this article has prompted me to start reigning in my searches to make them closer to home. Article link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2022/dea-fentanyl-failure/

The next paragraph of information can be classified as both a story, article and case study, in which a mother from Michigan claims that her two sons, both of whom died of Fentanyl overdose, were murdered. She is quoted as saying "I don't use the term 'drug overdose' because this was not an overdose. This was murder. This is a war. Act like it. Do something." Again, this is a US news story but as the semester goes on I hope to find New Zealand related stories to use in my work. Article link: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2023/02/28/southern-border-crisis-michigan-mother-rebecca-kiessling-testifies-sons-fentanyl-overdose-deaths/69953671007/

The last bit of information I stumbled upon from the prompts during the tutorial detailed the issue itself with Fentanyl overdoses, being that victims are often unaware that they are consuming Fentanyl. Illegally purchased drugs are often laced with Fentanyl and there is no way to tell if they have been or not. This is going to be a large focus of my project/campaign and I would like to find out more about it, maybe some statistics to back it up. Article link: https://wellbeing.missouri.edu/wellness-services/substance-use-education/fentanyl-lacing/#:~:text=Street%2Dpurchased%20drugs%2C%20including%20study,that%20they%20are%20consuming%20fentanyl.

The following post will be as detailed at the end of last weeks blog.

[ashleyvbaird]

Research

The focus of this week's blog post will be an examination of relevant information I have found during my research on Fentanyl. I have spent a considerable amount of time over the past week or so picking through articles and web pages on Fentanyl, opioid use, and the increasing death rates due to overdose. The following information answers all of the previous questions in my first post that I was curious to learn, as well as covering everything else that I found to be important or useful to my project.

As a starting point, I decided to look into what Fentanyl actually is and the basics of the drug. Below is what I have discovered;

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid most similar to morphine, the main difference being that Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful. It is a prescription drug typically used to treat patients with severe pain, however, as my topic suggests it is also a drug that is made and used illegally. Along with Fentanyl being used to treat pain, usually after surgeries, it can also be used for chronic pain as well as being an alternative for patients who are physically tolerant to other opioids. When prescribed by a doctor, Fentanyl can be given in many forms such as by a shot, a patch on the skin or as a lozenge. In the case of illegally made Fentanyl, which is manufactured synthetically in labs, its form varies from a powder that is inhaled, to a liquid, to a pill that is made to look like other opioids. This last form is the most dangerous, as many people may be unaware they are taking Fentanyl-laced pills, being that it is almost impossible to tell whether drugs have any level of Fentanyl in them unless tested with Fentanyl test strips. Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs such as heroin, MDMA and cocaine because of its extreme potency and how little it takes to produce a high. This also means that it is cheaper than alternative options because of how powerful just a small amount can be. This reason, being that people take drugs not realising they might contain Fentanyl, is one of the many factors resulting in the large number of overdose deaths we have seen in recent years. 

The above information was found from two sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html#:~:text=Pharmaceutical%20fentanyl%20is%20prescribed%20by,for%20its%20heroin%2Dlike%20effect. 

https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/fentanyl 

After learning about the drug itself, I then took to reading about how an overdose on Fentanyl happens and what to do in the case of an overdose. Here is what I found;

When people overdose on Fentanyl the physical symptoms often involve a slowing of breath and in worst cases the stopping of breathing all together. This decreases the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain causing a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can be life threatening, leading to comas, permanent brain damage or death. Other signs that someone has overdosed on Fentanyl include pinpoint pupils, discoloured skin, loss of consciousness and limp body. Having researched what an overdose looks like and how to recognise if an individual is experiencing one, it led me to a well of information regarding a medication known as narcan or naloxone that can reverse the effects of Fentanyl. This medication can rapidly reverse the effects of not only a Fentanyl overdose, but any opioid or drug related overdose if administered in time. Narcan comes in an injectable form as well as a nasal spray and works by binding to opioid receptors and blocking the effects of the opioid, usually restoring breathing within 2-3 minutes. It is a medication that can save lives and is being made more and more available in the hopes to slow the rates of drug related deaths. 

The above information was found from two sources:

https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/fentanyl-overdose-facts-signs-and-how-you-can-help-save-a-life/2023/01 

https://www.narcan.com/#what-happens-during-opioid-overdose-emergency 

https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/fentanyl  

The last thing I will briefly cover in this post I found on the official Narcan webpage, being stories of individuals that were the ‘1 before 911’. These stories detail how, with the help of Narcan, individuals were able to save a friend, family member or even a stranger from death due to overdose. They are formatted on the webpage as short videos where an individual tells of their story of being the first respondent in the case of an opioid overdose. These videos will be a good reference point for one of my final projects, being a podcast, as I want to discuss real life cases, just as was done in these clips, in order to provoke stronger audience reactions.

The Narcan website:

https://www.narcan.com/ 

Next week I will focus on creating more of a solid plan and outline for my proposal. To do so I will look at previous and current campaigns surrounding overdoses, addiction and drug use to gain an idea of the ways in which I can possibly go with my projects.

[ashleyvbaird]

Initial Thoughts, Ideas and Research

After hearing the brief for the assessment, the first social-culture issue that jumped into my head as a potential idea for my project was Fentanyl poisoning, or on the more larger scale the opioid crisis. I have heard much about this issue over the past year or so and think it could be a really interesting subject to create media around. Obviously it is a very serious issue that should be approached with a certain sort of care, which is why I plan to do as much research as possible, so as to not spread disinformation.  

I am yet to do much exploration of the topic itself so to start off, below is a collection of questions and information I would like to know about Fentanyl poisoning and opioid use, so as to ultimately create a well informed project: 

What form does Fentanyl take? 

Is it more commonly loose powder or a pill? 

What colour pill? 

Is it commonly mixed with other drugs? 

Do people even realize they're taking Fentanyl - laced/fake drugs? 

Look into previous ad campaigns on Fentanyl poisoning and opioid addiction 

How can a Fentanyl overdose be prevented?

 Fentanyl strips and Narcan/naloxone?

 Access to these prevention methods? 

What is Fentanyl’s original use?

 Is it a pain medication?

 For what type of pain / what is its most common use?

In terms of ideas for the two media projects, I am leaning towards a series of photographs, along with a podcast.

I scrolled through Pinterest for some photo inspiration so I could begin to plan out what I want my finished products to look like. The below photos sparked a few ideas, the first being the concept of a series of photographs that progress from depicting opioid use as a social/glamorous act to ending in a much darker light to show that they are not something to be idealized and can be fatal. However I feel that maybe this isn’t the best idea in terms of a campaign and wanting to raise awareness on the topic and its dangers.  

Another idea that came from my initial scroll through Pinterest is the idea to turn everyday objects into a pill to represent how it can control and take over every aspect of someone’s life. This came from one of  the images below in which a candy wrapper is placed over the head of a model. I had the idea that I could potentially do this with a pill and turn it into a series - a pill as a person's head, a pill taking the form of other everyday objects, even a model looking into a mirror and the reflection being a pill. 

Along with the inspiration gained through looking at other artists' work, I also had the idea of creating a series of photographs centering around a ‘puppet on a string’ concept to show how much control over your life drugs can have. In this case the puppet master would be the opioids and the puppet is those who use opioids. 

These ideas are only starting points for my final photographs and I hope to develop them as the semester goes on and create something uniquely my own. With that being said, I feel I have a good base of ideas to explore the issue and a good starting place to evolve my ideas. 

In terms of inspiration for the podcast, I have listened to a few different iterations of educational podcasts on drug use and the lacing of Fentanyl into other opioids (a few of which I have linked below). From what I have listened to I think instead of taking the educational stance I want to take a more personal route and share the story of an individual whose life has either been effected or ended by Fentanyl. What inspired this idea is a podcast I came across titled ‘Painkillers: America’s Fentanyl Crisis’ which focuses more on the personal side of the issue and its effects rather than details about the drug itself. I think that hearing someone’s story is a much more hard hitting, powerful way to make an impact. Facts and statistics only go so far, but personally for me, I know that I always feel much more deeply for a cause or campaign when a life story is shared, because it makes it real. My goal with this podcast is to create an honest conversation about the damage Fentanyl and opioids can do and to show just how deadly they are, and I believe the best way to do this is through sharing a true story. 

With that in mind I do also want to bring light to recent developments in the scientific field around the prevention of Fentanyl overdose. Increasing access is being made to Narcan and Fentanyl strips in the US, which if used in the case of an overdose can save lives. I wish to discuss this in the podcast and bring this to people's attention so that the demand for such products to be available in New Zealand increases, as well as so if anyone is ever in the case where someone near them is experiencing an overdose, they know what to do to help prevent fatality. 

Podcast Links: Just Science Podcast: Episode 50: Drugs: Just Fentanyl Lab Fads With ASCLD: https://forensiccoe.org/js4-e10/  Fatal Facts of Fentanyl podcast: https://deezer.page.link/xWNcX8cV46x1eCEdA  Painkiller: America’s Fentanyl Crisis : https://painkiller.vice.com/p/1 

All of the above are my ideas, thoughts and research from the first week of the project. I will continue to think upon these ideas and in next week's blog post will provide information from research, on both Fentanyl and peoples stories with the drug, as well as begin to outline and build a plan on how I will execute said ideas.