It was truly an honor 2 End The Stigma to get the chance to participate in Facing Fentanyl’s Times Square rally on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. Loyal friends, and fellow advocates, Jaime Igancio Puerta, Andrea Thomas, and Michael Fiore hosted this inspiring event, and invited 2ETS to participate.
Jill Cichowicz and Maggy Gray were on hand to represent 2ETS, share Scott’s story, and listen with broken hearts as family members and parents of young people, gone too soon, thanks to the ravages of fentanyl, shared their stories.
So many emotions, as the speakers
implored the audience to say the names of those they lost, and for a moment the sounds of Times Square were drowned out by the shouts of names from these family members, followed by the catch in their voices and the stifling of sobs.
The rally was followed up by a visit to New York’s DEA Headquarters, for a presentation and press conference by the Special Agent in Charge, Frank Tarantino. The information he shared was sobering and eye opening. He spoke about how the path of death starts in China, where the chemicals are made, and then sent to Mexico to be processed and finally smuggled into the US, where it enters every single community in our country.
The amount of fentanyl that was seized by the DEA last year was enough to kill 390 million people. 7 out of 10 pills being sold illegally, are laced with fentanyl. 1 person dies every 5 minutes from overdose. These are facts, and these are things that we ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT ENOUGH.
The event was capped off with a beautiful sunset vigil held on Pier 57 after the press conference, where the advocates gripped the beautiful portraits of those that are no longer here due to fentanyl. And, while there was sadness as those in attendance remembered and prayed for their lost loved ones, there was a palpable feeling of hope and resolve, as these warriors against fentanyl found strength and courage from each other.
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