Local recovery advocate appears in 'Narcoland' A&E series

CLYDE — An outspoken recovery advocate faces the opioid epidemic head-on in a new television series. Fight for Recovery founder Richie Webber, of Clyde, stars in "60 Days In: Narcoland" on A&E network. The show premiered Tuesday and has nine episodes. Webber, a recovering addict, learned he was chosen for the show last year.Webber and three others go undercover in Bullitt County, Kentucky, to learn how drug cartels operate in rural communities in America. Two more people, meanwhile, went undercover in the local jail."We lived on our own in the community," Webber said. "We got jobs and we lived real lives down there and met as many people as we could. I wasn't trying to bust any deals and get killed, I was trying to show how addiction is in America."Nobody knew there were cameras around — this was real, raw uncut stuff," he said.The show, at times, became intense and Webber thought he would be harmed."I definitely sometimes thought it would get bad for me," he said.Though the program's first episode didn't show Webber much, viewers will see him in this Tuesday's episode moving into the community. "It'll be an exciting one," he said.As series goes on, Webber will meet higher levels of drug dealers."I want people to see that addiction isn't a problem we can arrest our way out of," he said. "If we want to win the war on drugs, we have to go a different way. You have to think drug addiction as a mental health issue — they're not getting the treatment for depression and other issues in jail."He continued: "I'm hoping the show starts a conversation about addiction and how to fix it. We need to take a different approach to it to fix it."Webber said he will have a live-streamed video on his Facebook page, Richie Webber Recovery, to answer questions about the show. Members of the cast will appear on Webber's video, too.Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook.com/CaitliNearhoodClyde native Richie Webber stars in "60 Days In: Narcoland" on the A&E network.