About

It took me eight years to finally speak these words, “I lost my son Zach to a bad batch of heroin.”  I doubt I would have contributed my story to a website when I lost him in 2006. The stigma of OUD and most forms of SUD was very strong back then and remains so.  I awoke in the middle of a night in December of 2014 and realized I wanted to make a movie about him. But after joining GRASP, the bereavement group, I knew that I had to widen the scope of that film to include anyone who lost someone to SUD/OUD.  While that film is an ongoing project, I decided to switch gears to  something I could accomplish in a shorter time period.

So,  I decided to start a website to collect people’s stories about their experience with SUD/OUD and primarily the tragic effects on family and friends.  I am grateful these families shared their stories with me, a stranger, and I posted them with great care with the families’ blessing.  Many of these families had suffered their losses as early as 6 weeks prior, yet were strong enough to share. Not only that, but many also started nonprofits and campaigns to bring awareness to society about the horror of SUD/OUD.  Even after losing multiple children some brave souls told their stories for their lost loved ones, the ones who cannot speak.  Doing this, we all can share their lives.  These stories are a testament to the power and destructive force of this illness.

After collecting dozens of stories, I saw a need to expand my advocacy. In July  of 2021,  I started a podcast, These Ghosts Must Be Heard, and completed Season 1 at the end of that year. I was ready to start Season 2 near the end of 2022, but I was influenced by friends to start a new project that would bring me back to the classroom, where I was a public school English teacher (now retired) of grades 7-12.  But the real reason I started my program was because I studied reports from advocacy groups, government agencies (SAMHSA, DEA, CPB,) and the U of Maryland’s, CESAR (Center For Substance Use, Addiction and Research)  to name a few. The more research I did the more alarmed I became because of the rise of fentanyl and NPO’s (Novel Potent Opioids).  This is an alarming trend that continues. It is even more terrifying that these can be mixed with almost any mind-altering substance. Particularly in middle and high schools, fatal accidents are increasing among youngsters. Students often experiment with substances for the first time and get them from the street through trusted friends who think their source is pure. It even has been found in cannabis.  Cannabis, especially with its current high potency, is not harmless as previously thought. It has been proven to change the brains of adolescents and unborn children. It has even been classified in the Federal DSM-5 diagnostics and is called CUD (Cannabis Use Disorder). We are finding ways to fight this new assault, but action must be taken with greater urgency using all means available.

I started this past Spring to present my program, It’s Not You, Until it Is You. It’s an effective program specifically designed to educate the public, and more importantly our youth, with the goal of preventing other families from suffering as my family and community have suffered. Our program does not preach; it appeals to viewers’ emotions in a visceral way and educates. We are now a nonprofit tax exempt charity, The Humane Organization for Substance Awareness, Inc.,  doing business as The Zach Project. I am seeking to reach many youngsters, parents and youth groups as I can. I can’t do it alone; I hope you will support my organization and its programs.

Harris Insler
Founder