ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — Like many communities throughout the nation, the fentanyl epidemic is plaguing Abilene, Texas. One woman from that city chronicles her drug addiction while delivering a powerful message.
It’s day-to-day normal on the surface of Abilene streets. But scratch that surface and the streets are talking.
It’s where we met Jennifer Jowers, walking down one of those Abilene streets. State Street in North Abilene, to be specific. “The stuff I’ve seen… it’s not safe to be on the streets of Abilene.”
(KTAB Images)
Jowers grew up in Anson, just north of Abilene. She graduated from Anson High School at the age of 16, but by the time she was 18, she already had children, and she found herself in prison on a theft charge.
“I just kind of gave up, gave up on life, gave up on everything, and just really went nose-deep into drugs. I mean, my addiction,” Jowers shared.
Despite her years of drug use, it was only a couple of years ago that she was introduced to fentanyl. She thought she was using meth.
“It’s a three times stronger. It makes you sick, makes you feel like you’re dying,” Jowers recalled.
She eventually got out of prison after a short stint, got her kids back, and even went to a couple of years of college. She wanted to be in forensics, but her battle with drugs continued, and she found herself in Abilene in 2018 on the streets for the first time.
Jowers said she’s now 40 and sleeps on the steps over the Mockingbird underpass, under the train tracks. Many people in Abilene don’t even know that those steps are there, but they’re very popular with the homeless, so she can’t always sleep there.
(KTAB Images)
She also said since that day when she detoxed just up the road, she’s seen fentanyl take its toll on Abilene. In recent months, eight of her friends have died.
“Chloe, she was 18 years old. She didn’t even get to live her life, and she died. They said heroin overdose,” Jowers shared.
Jowers said she’s holding out hope for herself, and there’s still time for her, and shared this message:
“[If] You even suspect your kids are doing drugs. Intervene. I mean, period, anybody, if you care about them, intervene.”
Her story is one of many that reflect what the Abilene streets are saying just below the surface.
“There’s something in it. There’s something. I don’t know what it is, but it’ll eat holes in you.”