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SPEAKER: We're hearing from Minnesotans affected by the drug epidemic that's killed tens of thousands of Americans. The struggle with addiction to opioid painkillers and heroin has left communities across the state grieving for lives needlessly lost. One of the most staggering aspects of this epidemic is that for many, the drug abuse starts with legal painkillers. John Collins now has the story of one of Minnesota's lawmakers, representative Dave Baker, who lost his son Dan, to an overdose.
JOHN COLLINS: Sitting behind his desk in the state office building in Saint Paul, representative Dave Baker talked about the last day of his son Dan's life. Dan had just been kicked out of his drug treatment program for sharing medication. The rest of his family were still on vacation in California.
DAVE BAKER: We were going to be home the next day from our vacation, and Dan said he would be OK. And so him and his buddy went to our house and then went to the cities, and the rest is the horrible night that happened after that.
JOHN COLLINS: Dan took a television from his parents empty house. He sold it in Minneapolis to buy heroin. He and a friend went to a Maplewood home to use the drug.
DAVE BAKER: We been trying to call Dan all morning, because we knew he was home. And he would never answer the phone, and my wife was really worried something's not right.
JOHN COLLINS: Dan Baker was found dead the next morning. He was 25. Dave and his wife heard the news when their plane landed in Minneapolis.
DAVE BAKER: It was a horrible situation on the airplane, on the tarmac. We were full of passengers and so we just had to go into oh my God, now what do we do? We've actually lost one of our babies, and we can never get this back.
JOHN COLLINS: Dave would never have guessed that his kids might struggle with addiction. Growing up in the small town of Wilmer, Minnesota, Dan played baseball and hockey. He didn't party. But in college, he was prescribed opioid painkillers for a back injury.
DAVE BAKER: His longtime girlfriend from high school told us, I'm really worried about Dan. He's taking too many pills. He's not going to school like he should be. He's isolating himself up in his room. That's, I think, was our first indication like oh my gosh, we got to pay attention to what's going on.
JOHN COLLINS: Dan's parents started going with him to doctors visits. They found out he'd been doctor shopping, getting pills from more than one doctor.
DAVE BAKER: When he started to take some pain pills, he used them more to take away the pain. He felt this unusual buzz, and I think that was the beginning of what he was able to not turn off so easily.
JOHN COLLINS: When the prescriptions ran out, Dan turned to the street.
DAVE BAKER: He dabbled with the heroin probably a year before he died, give or take, when he could, he'd always prefer the pills. But it was just getting harder and harder to find, and then he would have to buy them off the street, it was very expensive. But again, addiction forces you to do things to either sell things, or take money from family members, or do whatever you got to do.
JOHN COLLINS: Dan went through two inpatient treatment programs in Granite Falls. The first time didn't take. But his father says, he was excited to go back into treatment right before he died.
DAVE BAKER: He really had no intentions of hitting it hard that night, and he knew he was playing Russian roulette.
JOHN COLLINS: Dan's death left a void in the family.
DAVE BAKER: Something about losing a child, and a baby that you raised and took care of, and you always felt like, especially again as a father, you needed to protect your children at any cost. And so for us it's that emptiness of a parent not being able to put your arms around your child, and maybe someday having grandchildren and having a wife, and those things we'll always wonder about.
JOHN COLLINS: But time, faith, and community, helped the family heal. Dave was elected to the Minnesota House in 2014, where he's led efforts to prevent opioid overdose deaths. Signs of Dan are all over Dave's office. A poster on the wall for a foundation in his name, a photo of Dan's face rotating through a digital picture frame.
DAVE BAKER: Just seeing Dan around and never thinking he's not around is important for me. And when I'm not here someday, I will be able to be with Dan, and to me that's what makes me look forward to seeing him again someday.
JOHN COLLINS: Every day when Dave gets into the office, he tells his son, good morning. He says Dan is always there. Covering Health, John Collins, Minnesota Public Radio News.