GOP Sen Blackburn highlights ongoing struggles in fentanyl crisis, in new video

Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn discussed the crushing and lasting impact of the fentanyl drug crisis in a video shared exclusively with Just The News.

The video features Blackburn speaking with a mother, Kathy Borum, who lost her eldest son, 17-year-old Vaughn-Thomas Borum, to what appeared to be accidental fentanyl overdose on Dec. 2, 2021. 

Borum, who described her son as someone who was "very strong in his faith," and well loved by his friends, says her son believed he was taking an Xanax that turned out to be counterfeit fentanyl.

"I had put up some Christmas decorations, and I had gone to pick up my youngest at basketball practice, and Vaughn-Thomas texted me that he was hungry. He just got through working out at the gym, and wanted me to grab him some food. So I brought that home to him," Borum said sadly.  "We talked a little bit, and I gave him a big hug and said, 'Good night, I love you.' And He hugged me back and said, 'I love you more.' That was the last time I talked to him."

She said they found her son the next morning when he did not get up to his alarm.

"This is an epidemic worse than the COVID pandemic, and not enough is being done," Borum said. "Our borders are inviting tragedy into the lives of our children ... . One mistake should not have been a death sentence for Vaughn-Thomas."

Blackburn reflected on the impact of the fentanyl crisis, saying roughly 100,000 people still die in the United States from drug overdoses each year, and that it was largely because of fentanyl.

"Most all of us know at least one person, through friends, through family, that has been affected," the senator, who in November is seeking a second term, says in the video. "Their lives have been torn apart by fentanyl. 

"What we know is that across our great state, there are so many physicians and nurses and health care professionals who are on the front line of this every day. That is why we say thank you to our law enforcement and our health care community for the work that they are doing to fight back against fentanyl."

The video comes during National Recovery Month, which has occurred every September since 1989 to support the recovery community, and honor the service workers who fight to make recovery possible.

Borum created a foundation in honor of Vaughn-Thomas, called the "Vaughn-Thomas Borum Foundation," which raises money to help people get into substance abuse programs.

Misty Severi is a reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.