Tanis Spragg died three years ago. Her loved ones say her drug use and OD was not a failure of willpower

He said people addicted to drugs, like his stepdaughter, Tanis Spragg, have a brain disease that is very difficult to overcome. He said her drug use and fatal overdose were not a sign of personal weakness or a lack of willpower.

“The one thing I can say to people is educate yourself,” Bertke said. “The disease of addiction does not just affect the person with the disease but all their loved ones.”

A Sunday Dayton Daily News investigation showed drug overdoses have declined sharply in Dayton and fatal overdoses have been cut in half this year in Montgomery County.

Through the end of May, there have been about 64 overdose deaths in Montgomery County, which is down nearly 50% from the same time period in 2023, says preliminary data from public health officials.

Montgomery County saw 292 overdose deaths last year and 316 in 2022. Fatal drug overdoses peaked at 566 in 2017 but then fell dramatically the following year to 291.

Spragg died of a drug overdose three years ago, on July 17, 2021. She was 33 years old. She had fentanyl and cocaine in her system.

Spragg’s story is a sad one.

She struggled with drug problems since she was a teenager. She spent her 16th birthday in drug rehab.

Later in life, she was arrested and spent time behind bars after being convicted of theft and receiving stolen property.

Authorities took her children away after she overdosed in front of them. The father of one her kids died of an overdose. The father of two of her children also fatally overdosed.

Her kids are now being raised by her mother, Angie Bertke, and stepfather and another relative.

Spragg’s family says drug addiction turned her into a different person. Drugs can hijack the brain.

Bertke said he gets frustrated when people talk about drug addiction as if it’s a personal failure of self-restraint.

He said many drug users self-medicate and battle demons and unfortunately sometimes the demons win those fights.

Bertke said these days he spends a lot of time trying to share what he’s learned about addiction with others, including the families of addicts.

Bertke is a volunteer with Families of Addicts, a local support group that meets weekly. He almost never misses a meeting.

Bertke said every person is different and there’s no one right way to get on the road to recovery.

Bertke said some of the strongest people he’s met are recovering drug addicts who have work hard every day to stay sober and beat their disease.