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A group of Texas mothers who have lost their children to accidental fentanyl poisoning have decided to rent large billboards with images of their loved ones in hopes of sparking a conversation between other parents and their children.
Families aim to raise awareness of the dangers associated with drugs and urge parents to educate their children on the subject.
In response to the cause, billboard advertiser MediaChoice received so many calls thanking them for bringing attention to fentanyl that they have now generously provided free space to display the billboards.
There are a total of eight digital and four vinyl billboards currently in use across the state with 25 victims appearing on their billboards so far with the caption: “Fentanyl steals your friends.”
The billboards were put up by the founders of the Forever15Project which was established by parents Brandon and Janel Rodriguez after their son, Noah, founded the organization after their son, Noah, died of fentanyl poisoning last August.
A group of Texas mothers have rented massive billboards displaying photos of their children who have been accidentally killed by fentanyl-laced pills.
Danica Kaprosy, right, pictured with her mother Veronica and her father. Danica died after taking what she believed to be a Percoset pain reliever pill
Danica is featured in this set of images from The Forever 15 Project
He believed he was taking Percocet, a strong pain reliever, and died after taking a single pill laced with fentanyl.
Noah’s mother decided to start the charity after seeing that Noah’s friends were still taking pills even after her son’s death.
“It made me angry that they saw their friend lying in the coffin and they were still making these decisions. So I thought, “What can I do to show them that this is real life?” So I started a card on Kyle,’ Rodriguez said.
‘One life is all I’m trying to save. This is real. Fentanyl is out there. Don’t play Russian roulette with your life,’ Rodríguez told KENS5.
Another mother of a teenager, Veronica Kaprosy, lost her daughter, Danica, in similar circumstances.
Families are using the huge billboards across the state to warn others about drug-related dangers and pleading with parents to talk to their kids about it.
The billboard advertiser has loaned the space to families for free with eight digital billboards and four vinyl billboards already in use.
There are a total of eight digital and four vinyl billboards currently in use across the state with 25 victims appearing on their billboards thus far.
Danica suffered from insomnia and food allergies that caused her pain.
Her family tried to find alternatives to strong painkillers and found someone online who agreed to provide her with Percocet. However, the drug was again fentanyl.
She took the pill in the middle of the night and she was dead by morning.
“I didn’t want my daughter’s death to be in vain and I don’t want other parents to feel like my husband and I feel every day,” she told KENS5.
“It is torture to know that your daughter died of fentanyl poisoning and we did not know anything,” said Verónica. They are putting it on everything. Vape pens, marijuana, cocaine, Adderall. Act like it could happen to you and your family. Be proactive. Talk to your family and your grandchildren.
‘We got to this point because no one is talking about it. We angel moms are now screaming trying to raise awareness. Trying to get our government, local and federal, to listen to what’s going on,’ she added.
Each of the billboards features three teenagers who have died from taking fentanyl.
Deaths caused by fentanyl in the US increased in the 2010s. At the beginning of the decade, 2,666 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses. This number shot up to 19,413 in 2016. The covid worsened the situation, with a record 72,484 deaths registered in 2021
She believes the billboard campaign will help raise awareness of the situation.
The idea of putting up billboards was likely inspired by the November 2017 Oscar-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, for which Frances McDormand won a 2018 Academy Award for Best Actress.
In the film, mother Mildred Hayes spends thousands of dollars to rent a trio of billboards designed to incite local police when no arrests have been made seven months after her daughter’s murder.
They respectively read ’71 dead’, ‘And still no arrests?’ and ‘How come?’ but are later destroyed by arson.
The idea was inspired by the billboards in the November 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which respectively read ’71 Dead’, ‘And Still No Arrests?’ and ‘How come?’
Frances McDormand won a 2018 Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Mildred Hayes, who rents a trio of billboards designed to incite local police after no arrests are made seven months after her daughter’s murder.
By 2022, the Centers for Disease Control believes that fentanyl will be responsible for about half of drug-related deaths in the US.
Fentanyl and related synthetic opioids are potent and can be transported in small amounts. When they first started making a big impact in the US about a decade ago, they were mostly produced in labs in China and shipped into the country.
Over time that has changed. Experts say most of the supply is now made in Mexico from chemicals imported from China. The drug is pressed into fake prescription pills and added to other illegal drugs. Authorities say they are brought into the US primarily through legal ports of entry, eluding detection.
Some people who overdose on fentanyl don’t know they are using it. But in other cases, drug users specifically seek it out.
Some people who overdose on fentanyl don’t know they are using it. But in other cases, drug users specifically seek it out.
On Wednesday, 21 Republican state attorneys general wrote a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Andrew Blinken asking them to designate the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“The same cartels that produce and traffic this dangerous chemical are also assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing and killing Americans at the border, and participating in an armed insurgency against the Mexican government,” the letter said. “This dangerous terrorist activity occurring at our border will not abate unless we intensify our response.”
Last year, a group of Republican prosecutors petitioned the president to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. No action has been taken.
Regina LaBelle, who served as acting director of National Drug Control Policy earlier in the Biden presidency, said the United States must deal with groups that bring fentanyl into the country. “They are transnational criminal organizations that traffic people, fuel and drugs,” she said.
But he warned: “If you focus only on that part of the problem, you’re not doing your job.”