Opioid epidemic is so bad, dealers are targeting people outside of Cobb Co. recovery center

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The opioid epidemic is gripping the nation with an alarming number of deaths tied to fentanyl.

A recovery center says it’s so bad, drug dealers are targeting addicts in recovery.

Cobb County police officers on the frontlines have administered more Naloxone so far in 2023 than they did in all of last year.

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Missy Owens, founder of the recovery facility The Zone, says drug dealers are targeting recovering addicts outside of her center.

“They have been arrested in our parking lot before,” Owens said. “You’ve got fentanyl in meth, you’ve got fentanyl in weed, you’ve got fentanyl in Xanax.”

She doesn’t allow it to get in the way of the progress she and her team have made at The Zone.

Danny Spinney is now eight years clean and serves as the program services director at the center.

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“Recently in this area, we had two overdoses on high school students that were smoking weed. It’s just ridiculous they are putting fentanyl in everything,” Spinney said.

Amid the problem, the center is dedicated to making a difference.

“The Zone is for people in recovery to have a safe place to be build up a network and her supportive services,” Owens said.

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