Meet Joe Soliman | Advocate for change-Fentanyl crisis.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joe Soliman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joe, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

The thought of starting a Non Profit to aid in both Fentanyl awareness and overdose prevention/education was not just an option but more a necessary calling as I felt the need to do “something” that will help another parent or addict not have to endure what my family had to go through in the wake of my son Wade’s death from Fentanyl poisoning. The Fentanyl epidemic has created an ominous path that every drug user (addict or not) can and will eventually go down with egregious consequences up to and including death due this heinous killer called Fentanyl. There needs to be change and I made a decision to be a of that change through starting a Non Profit with the hopes of revisions to current laws that dont address the Fentanyl crisis stern enough. These changes start with the solicitation of local and national law makers who I intend to get infront of to tell my story. This is not a choice, it has to be done and it won’t be easy. Our legislators need to be held accountable for the necessary deterrents and revisions with current laws that need to be enhanced inorder to save more lives from Fentanyl poisoning.

Education is the key and awareness is the door that we all need to go through in order to better understand the complexity of the entire Fentynal cycle from its creation in a lab somewhere across the world to the trafficking of the drug into the United States end eventually to the local dealer who is mixing this deadly potion with other Opiates to maximize their profitability.

The creation of the Non Profit (still in process) is necessary to hopefully raise a legislative eyebrow and provide the funding to help solicit change within our legal structure, both locally and Nationally, in order to create deterrents and change in current laws that don’t do enough to address the Fentanyl epidemic. There needs to be change and unfortunately that change comes from examples and those examples of lost lives are the cornerstone of getting the message out.

My example is my son Wade who loved life, loved people, loved his family and unfortunately loved Opiates. He thought he was taking an Oxycodone pill but it was a Fentanyl laced pill and he never woke up. I posted ‘Wade’s Story” (below) to my personal FACEBOOK page under JOE SOLIMAN, in an effort to let others relive my last day with my son from the time I found him passed out to the moment the Coroner’s van left my home with him in it. It is graphic and necessary in order to help people understand this serious and horrific road called Opiate addiction and the risk of Fentanyl poisoning.

Wade’s Story By: Joe Soliman (Graphic)
On September 28, 2022, I found my oldest son Wade on his bathroom floor in a fetal position with no movement. I quickly realized he was non responsive and called 911. The operator had me first drag Wade from the bathroom to the open area of his room so I could administer CPR. I did so for about four minutes until several fire engines and two Sheriffs cars arrived. I was alone and it was just me and Wade for that four minutes. I remember the operator asking me to open his eyes as I continued to pump his chest again and again. I had never seen someone’s eyes look like that. It was as if he was looking at me with a motionless stare saying “thank you for trying save me Dad”. Looking back it was absolutely terrifying and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody but something happens and God gives us a gift and the adrenaline takes over and you go into survival mode. I tell people I was right there when Wade popped out of his mom and came into this world for the first time and I was also right there as he exited this world. The Paramedics worked on Wade for almost two full hours. I had called 911 at 12:03 pm and at 1:43PM I heard the words that no parent should ever hear a Fire Captain say which was “I’m sorry, we did everything we could, however we lost him”. My wife and middle son and my youngest son (on the phone from Texas) all fell to our knees with disbelief. The world was a terrible place that day, it had been for the prior twelve years for Wade and his addiction leading up to that point.Wade would lay dead on the floor of his bedroom for almost nine hours after being pronounced dead. We were not allowed to go into the room. We could only peek past the police tape and the deputy who was securing his room and all we could see was Wade’s legs lay idol. His upper body was covered by a sheet. At that time all I could remember was the four or five oxygen tanks they gave Wade while trying to revive him and hearing the sound of the paramedics trying to shock his heart back into existence. There were a total of six fire personnel in his room that day trying to save him. The key communicator was the fire captain who would give us updates every fifteen minutes, sometimes good news sometimes bad news but they promised not to give up and that they would keep trying and trying which they did. They were my heroes that day. I saw my home quickly fill up with Sheriff’s Deputy’s and then Narcotics Detectives.There was a massive police presence.That’s the protocol with a suspected Fentanyl overdose. By 9:00 PM most of the law enforcement had left our home and the last part of that horrific day was about to take place.There was a knock at the door, and it was a Coroners Investigator that was there to evaluate what was labeled a “Crime Scene” (Wade’s bedroom). Soon after that the Coroner’s van pulled up and I was watching my first-born son being carried from his bedroom and down the stairs of our home in a body bag. I can tell you with 100% certainty I was not ready for that. I could not watch my son being loaded into that van just like we all see on the nightly news every night. I went back in the house and went numb the next twenty four hours. We were all given a brief moment to say our goodbyes to Wade before he was loaded into that van but it was the sound of the zipper of the body bag being pulled back up over him that will never leave my mind. There is an ongoing investigation into Wade’s death on two different fronts. The first being whoever gave Wade the Fentanyl (Toxicology was positive for 3x the lethal amount of Fentanyl). The second investigation was to determine how Wade was able to get Oxycodone prescriptions from licensed medical professionals with abnormal regularity and scary frequency levels.The Medical Examiner told me six months later when the toxicology was completed, that Wade had a large amount of Xanax in him, a very small amount of Oxycodone and a large quantity of Fentanyl. His medical opinion was that Wade had taken a Oxycodone pill that was predominantly Fentanyl laced and the Xanax in him would have countered any possibility of recovering from the fentanyl overdose. I asked him the tough question and that was “do you think Wade could have done this on purpose” and he said highly doubtful because Wade had recreational levels of Xanax in him. He stated that it takes a very incremental amount of Fentanyl to kill someone and that Wade had three times the lethal limit in him which with his experience, felt that Wade caught a laced oxycodone pill. Wade would be the first to say that nobody ever forced a pill down his throat, however he had a sure-fire vehicle (questionable medical personnel ) to obtain the Oxycodone. These doctors had no issue billing Medi -Cal for the prescriptions and taking cash payment on top of those billings. This triggered a Team from the LA County Sheriffs Dept (HALT) to open a case with their Major Crimes Team. This team goes after doctors and alike who act irresponsibly and prescribe with a blind eye. (Pain Mgmt Doctors). Wade needed the Oxy so badly (smoked it and snorted it) that he would trade the prescription Oxy for “street” Oxy so he could get a larger quantity to satisfy his need even if there was the danger of tainted or laced pills. He thought he would know the difference if he ever caught a bad pill and could recover in time. Wade’s addiction started just after high school with recreational pill popping (Alprazolam/Xanax). Over the years the usage escalated to horrific levels and then at times Wade would detox himself and try to get clean. He did so successfully for a long duration from 2017-2020, but then fell back into his addiction when COVID hit. He knew that there was no easier place to find drugs than at specific Narcotic Anonymous meetings in the Valley that he knew of. As an addict, Wade would use and mix multiple drugs to both bring him down and back up again (Xanax/Cocaine/Oxycodone etc.). That eventually turned into periods of Meth, Heroine, even needles and just about everything he could get his hands on to try to make himself feel better. He was truly a functioning drug addict making sure he was up at 3:00 a.m. everyday to go to work with a full-time job that he excelled at. Eventually Wade needed a higher concentration of drugs and we saw this wonderful, kind, handsome, generous, bright longtime (Honor Roll Student) and great brother turn into someone we didn’t even know anymore. The damage his addiction did to our family is indescribable at best. That wasn’t intentional, but more a byproduct of addiction. We all lived a twelve-year nightmare and as Wade was twenty-nine years old and approaching his 30th birthday, I saw the look of death in his face and even a lack of desire for him to look in the mirror at himself any longer. There were times he cleaned himself up, but he refused most of the Rehabs we tried to get him into over the years. Sadly, I look back and feel it wasn’t a matter of “if” but more a matter of “when”.
Wade’s death needs to stand for something bigger than his death itself. Another life needs to be spared through the lesson of Wade’s death. He would want that. No parent or sibling should ever have to watch their son or brother leave their home in a Coroner’s van.
I will carry “Wades Story” with me for the rest of my life and I will try to support, educate, and spread my message to the parents of addicts who need help understanding this disease of addiction and this killer called Fentanyl.
The reason for this post is to tell a story that is more common than not and to also educate parents and friends as to the brutality of this dangerous killer!
I don’t have all the answers and I don’t think I ever will but what I do have is a passion to ultimately one day appear and testify in front of local legislators as well as our leaders in Sacramento and hopefully congressional hearings in Washington DC because these laws have to be changed. Whether or not those laws change with regard to a deterrent to distributing Fentanyl or fake pills, the real work starts at home and my next post will give some insight as to some of the things that I saw over the years that were both disturbing and sometimes encouraging (reality) so again if my story can help even one parent, than mission accomplished. My intention is not to propose that Wade’s situation is a one size fits all, and it is not to draw criticism for the graphic details of what I wrote. My antennas were up and this still happened. It could happen to anyone. 
I believe everybody knows someone that knows someone that knows someone who’s affected by addiction. Let’s prevent this story from being told again by another parent by making changes in law that can and will be a deterrent for drug dealers and traffickers.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am in mortgage finance by trade and had no idea I would be navigating a new course of business, and this time not for profit but for saving lives. Sometimes we don’t choose our destiny, it is set upon us through various means. I am very driven to help another parent not have to go through what my family has gone through with the passing of my son. My drive has taken me down a very complicated path and cycle of trying to implement change in mindset, policy, attitude, education and the willingness to discuss a “dirty” topic that a lot of folks dont want to talk about. In only a month of starting a personal FB page on top of several conversations with law enforcement, advocate groups and talks with folks with similar experiences, I now have a plethora of information that I was not expecting. The challenge of taking this fight to the streets is that it’s not a fun topic of conversation. Who wants to discuss death and drugs at Sunday dinner or watching a football game or even on a casual call with a close friend but its necessary. Knowledge is power and communication is paramount. I’m certain there will be more losses than wins in this battle but if my efforts can help just one parent or one addict avoid a Fentanyl overdose, then it’s all worth it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I would need to gas up the car and head north up to Paso Robles for some wine tasting. Maybe loop back down through Santa Ynez for some more beautiful winery scenery. Further south you can get a nice meal at The Tavern in Los Olivos. It really is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world when you drive up the 126 to the 101 and even the Chumash Hwy (154) is a really scenic and fun drive surrounded by wine and food as well as relaxation.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I reached out to Perla Mendoza of PROJECT ELI. Perla is a leader in the fight against Fentanyl and unfortunately understands the severity of the crisis as she lost her son to Fentanyl poisoning. In my conversation with her I heard her passion and drive for creating awareness through education and I thought “what better person to menor me should I ever need it” and she has been very supportive and a great resource who is doing great things in the fight against Fentanyl.

Google PROJECT ELI and you’ll see the good things she is doing out of Seal Beach, Ca.