Our Nation’s Drug Epidemic is much more than “One Pill”…
I am a mother too, but also a bereaved mother who lost her child to Fentanyl. I lost my child only a 111-days after discovering a struggle was already raging for months that had begun from youthful innocence and a prescription of Xanax.
So please take the time to read what I have to say and keep all of it in mind the next time you speak and seek justice for your child who has been tragically lost to “One Pill”, that contained the exact man-made deadly substance that took my child’s life and hundreds of thousands of others.
There have been hundreds and thousands like you that have lost children to substance use for decades now and that fought bloody battles to have their voices heard.
Hundreds of thousands were shoved behind closed doors, shamed into silence, and told that their children didn’t matter and that all their deeply loved children who died deserved to pay the ultimate price for using illicit substances.
There are hundreds of thousands still fighting and praying today for their children to maintain recovery. And there are hundreds of thousands praying on bloody knees their children can discover recovery and come back home before it’s too late.
And, there have been, and still are, hundreds of thousands risking everything going up against an unforgiving and relentlessly cold-hearted society, and our Nation’s broken judicial and political systems. And all of them, unlike you, broke every bone prying their way out from behind closed doors to help all lives impacted and captured by our Nation’s Drug Epidemic, fighting to be seen and heard.
Please recognize that one should never fail to acknowledge the respect deserved that is owed to those who have paved a path for others’ voices to be heard, especially the loved ones whose voices were stolen due to our Nation’s Drug Epidemic.
But, most importantly, don’t forget what I am about to explain, as I can barely breathe watching the doors closing again that so many bled to pry open. Watching the progress made to end the stigma over decades being reversed due to the conversations, and the language used concerning the “One Pill” kills ~ “Overdose versus Poisoning / Homicide” debate.
An exclusive fight newly raging, compared to the fight hundreds of thousands have been engulfed in for decades to help end, so that lives can be saved, and not more put at risk.
I ask…. when you use your voice to seek justice for your child and to bring awareness exclusively to Fentanyl…
Don’t call your child a victim, and refer to my child as an “Addict”, correct those who use this term and explain the damage it does to other human beings.
Don’t imply my child wasn’t a good kid because she was mine and she was beautiful inside and out.
Don’t imply my child had nothing to offer this world, as all children have something to offer and all deserve to live long happy lives, just like our children deserved but didn’t get the chance because of Our Nation’s Drug Epidemic.
Don’t label my child’s death as either Intentional or Accidentally, as you didn’t know my child, was not with my child when she died, and it isn’t your place, right to judge, or is it your responsibility even to hold an opinion regarding my child’s manner of death.
Don’t hold my child responsible for her death and claim your child was innocent as an illicit substance was used that wasn’t theirs to take. And by your own words, there was only one child who wasn’t compromised by a Disease.
Stop using the vast array of passive, derogatory, and differentiating language that’s used to point out your child isn’t what society looks at as a “Junkie.” And do not throw my beautiful child under the bus for the sake of yours, ensuring the world doesn’t question whether your child was “A Drug User”. Because tragically it was the use of an illicit substance that claimed your child’s life, and your child isn’t here to confirm or deny if it was their first use, and if they had found themselves struggling against substance use or not.
And take the time to understand at what point good intentions go awry, as Our Nation has only one Drug Epidemic, and it should never be segregated into what has just impacted your life, as it is causing detrimental and catastrophic harm to others, and reverses the progress made to end the stigma hundreds of thousands have fought to silence.
Again, I lost my child in just 111-days and it was Fentanyl that claimed her life vs. others who lost their children immediately to “One Pill”. I understand I cannot say with certainty if my child knew of the Fentanyl or not, but if I did, knowing, either way, would not change the fact all that remains of my loving child is in the urn I carried home from her service, and look at every night before I close my eyes.
I understand the indescribable shock and death that comes devastatingly quickly, and the restlessness of living with my own grief-stricken perceived failures as a mother too.
