ST. AUGUSTA, MINN. – The worst day of Dan Pearson's life — Christmas 2006 — started when his oldest son didn't answer his phone.
Justin Pearson had come over the night before, but his dad could tell the 24-year-old had relapsed into his opioid addiction: The slurred words, the grogginess, the hazy eyes. Justin was embarrassed to be around family on Christmas Eve, so a friend took him back to his house in St. Cloud. The next day, Pearson called and texted his son, again and again, before driving to his house.
His son lay in the garage, dead from an overdose after a tormenting two-year roller coaster of addiction.
"I sat there and held my son in my arms for a couple hours in a cold garage on Christmas Day," Pearson said.
Tragedies like this have broken an untold number of parents during a national opioid epidemic that's taken 400,000 lives since 2000 and kills more than 130 people a day, according to the National Institutes of Health.
While Minnesota's opioid problem pales in comparison to certain states — it had 7.8 opioid-related overdose deaths per 100,000 people in 2017, compared to 49.6 for West Virginia and 39.2 for Ohio — it's enough of a crisis here that Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill this year to increase fees on prescription drug manufacturers and distributors to pay for prevention and treatment.
The scope of the problem can seem overwhelming, especially to a parent in mourning. But even though he says nobody can know the sorrow of a parent losing a child — Dan Pearson still visits Justin's gravesite each morning — he did not retreat into inaction.
Within a couple of weeks after Justin's death, Pearson began writing to state legislators. That led to Justin's Law, which requires Minnesota doctors to have face-to-face consultations with patients before prescribing opioids, among other things. He started a foundation in his son's honor. He purchased gas cards for local drug courts to help addicts get to treatment. And three years ago Pearson, who owns PleasureLand RV Center, purchased 60 doses of Narcan, a nasal spray that can suspend the fatal effects of an overdose, for the Stearns County Sheriff's Office. This year Pearson bought another 60 doses — at about $80 apiece — for other police, fire and ambulance agencies throughout central Minnesota.