300,000
+
ILLICIT FENTANYL DEATHS
...since 2020
543,000,000
LETHAL DOSES SEIZED
...since 2023
200
DEATHS PER DAY
...happening now
Join The Fight; Stand Strong Against The U.S. Fentanyl Crisis w/ The Queen 4 Courage Foundation.
"When the history of the fentanyl crisis is written, 2023 may be remembered as the year Americans woke up to an unprecedented threat scouring communities - and a deepening cultural divide over what to do about it."
- NPR - In 2023 fentanyl overdoses ravaged the U.S. and fueled a new culture war fight - DECEMBER 28, 2023 8:51 AM ET
Sudden Fentanyl Death – Not an “Overdose” – A Mass Poisoning of Epic Proportions!
There is a crisis in this country that has killed more Americans than the last 4 major wars; Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the War on Terror (Iraq-Afghanistan). Yes, that’s right, there is a silent war against our U.S. Citizens that is killing almost 150 people per day, and it’s estimated to have already taken over 300,000 lives. It’s the silent war, waged by our enemies, to wipe out entire generations of our youth, and it’s an unmitigated crisis primarily killing our loved ones between the ages of 18 – 45. This war is very different from the others. It’s quiet, it’s going unnoticed, but it’s happening right in front of our eyes, and It’s called the illicit fentanyl crisis killing our citizens by the thousands.
Hundreds of Thousands of Americans have died in the last three years due to Fentanyl related poisonings and overdoses, and it’s only getting worse. Thousands of pounds of this deadly drug, especially in pill form, is pouring across our border, and that’s just what we’re catching. Data taken from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s website states; In 2023, the DEA seized more than 79.5 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. Yes, you read that correctly. In 2023 the seizures alone are equivalent to more than 376.7 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States of America. These are very scary facts, especially if you are a parent or a spouse or a relative. The crisis is only gaining momentum. It’s taking more and more lives every day, and as of now, it seems there is no end in sight.
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So, as a parent who has lost a son to a sudden an unexpected Fentanyl poisoning death, I am pleading for your help to spread the word, to talk about this deadly drug, and to create such a noise that this crisis will not go unnoticed any longer. That we will fight for those lost voices who cannot fight for themselves anymore, that we will fight for the families who have lost their loved ones, that we will fight for the lives of those that still have a voice, that we will fight for the living, and that all of us, together, will force the powers that be to hear us, to listen to us, so that they will stop this crisis, and put an end to these sudden, unexpected and unnecessary deaths, so that not one more family will suffer through the pain and the grief that those Angels parents who have lost their loved ones have had to endure.
- Bryan K. Lugo, Angel Parent
Pharmaceutical Fentanyl vs Illicit Fentanyl.
News reports about “fentanyl overdose deaths” appear almost daily, and the tragedy of these deaths cannot be overstated. However, misunderstandings over what fentanyl is, where it comes from, how it is used and why, have become so pervasive that they plague discourse and debate about the crisis. Further muddying the waters is the reality that there are dozens of such drugs that are very similar in nature with some being compounds developed by pharmaceutical companies for legitimate medical use, and others that are illegally manufactured and disguised as common, every-day pills, which in reality, are extremely lethal when ingested. The other problem here is that the illicit drug is treated on the same level as a pharmaceutically manufactured drug, however unfortunately, one pill won’t kill you by just taking it, but the other one will.
How deadly is illicit Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is 100X more potent than morphine and 50X more potent than heroin. It has been shown that only 2mg of Fentanyl alone can be enough of a dose to kill an avgeraged sized person. This does not even include the increase in the deadliness of Fentanyl when mixed with other substances including alcohol, nor does it take into consideration the extreme lethality of certain Fentanyl analogues, such as Carfentanyl, which can be up to 10,000X more powerful than Illicit Fentanyl itself. Most of these analogs are all estimated to be much more potent and lethal than their pharmaceutical-grade counterparts, with the vast majority of these illicit Fentanyls being manufactured in clandestine laboratories of the illegal drug trade, which also make up the majority of the types of Fentanyl pills and powders being seized.
Who is at risk to be killed by Fentanyl?
ANYONE! Fentanyl is the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH for Americans of the ages 18 - 45. Although this is the greater affected group, Fentanyl poisonings have already begun to trickle down to a younger and younger subset of adolescents. In fact, a study out of UCLA Health has found that, starting back a couple of years prior, "An average of 22 adolescents 14 to 18 years of age died in the U.S. each week in 2022 from drug overdoses, raising the death rate for this group to 5.2 per 100,000..." and is primarily "driven by fentanyl in counterfeit pills". Those stats should be harrowing to any parent. Especially, considering that this equates to almost 22 adolescent deaths per week and seems to only be the tip of the iceberg.
The pill culture in America - A Trojan Horse.
America is overmedicating itself. More than 131 million people — 66 percent of all adults in the United States — use prescription drugs, which equates to over 3.5 billion prescriptions per year. This is an astounding number considering the entire U.S. population is just under 342,000,000. To further put an exclamation point on this unmitigated disaster, research from the Mayo Clinic, back in 2013, found that nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half of those take two, with antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids being the most commonly prescribed. This study was over 10 years ago, and can you even imagine what this same research would likely show us now? So we create this culture of taking pills, the entire system is made mainstream, the pharmaceutical companies are complicit in their efforts to "push" these so called "fixes" on us, because BIG PHARMA generates Trillion$$ of dollars through maintaining people's ills. So now we have all become conditioned to just sit idly by and watch our younger generations die in catastrophic numbers. All while disparaging those who take the pills, instead of penalizing those who distribute, manufacture, and sell this poison.
Educate yourself to prevent more deaths.
There is no pathway for us to come out of this crisis if we stay silent. This crisis affects mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives. If you were to type the words Fentanyl + any State into Google, you'd find a plethora of news segments and statics showing the devastation this drug has caused across the country. HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of lives lost in just a few short years, with thousands more deaths each month and hundreds more lives lost by the day, The numbers are staggering, unbelievable at times, but it's real, it's happening right now as you read this, and there is no plan in site to stop it. Without educating everyone, we can't win. We first need to separate the "overdose" from the "poisoning" and the "medical pills" from the "lethal ones". We need to educate ourselves, our children, our friends and our families. We need to start the conversation, we need to start educating, and we need to start saving lives, not keep witnessing deaths because it's going to take all of us to stop this, and we cannot afford to waste another minute. .
One Family's Story of a Pathway to Justice - DENIED!
Columbia County, Georgia DA Bobby Christine announces indictment in suspicious death. ​
THIS IS NOT A SUSPICIOUS DEATH - THIS WAS INTENTIONAL POISING, A MURDER
It wasn’t just any murder case. Colin Magill’s arrest was the first of its kind in Columbia County, Georgia. Alex King had died 18 months earlier, killed by taking 1 Percocet that was laced with Fentanyl. Alex died within 30 minutes of meeting Colin Magill in a McDonalds’ parking lot, laying dead in a front yard just outside of his truck, his best friend Ben hanging on to life laying in the same yard, and just minutes away from death himself in front of his porch. A call comes in, the EMS personnel arrive, save Ben, but Alex was gone. An overdose no, a suspicious death yes, and an investigation would shine a grim light on the details of why Alex Roger King died on July 19th, 2020.
Fast forward to February 27th, 2022. Newly appointed District Attorney Bobby Christine holds a press conference, “You peddle illicit narcotics in our community, and a death results, if we can develop the appropriate facts, we will pursue you and charge you with murder”. What hope for a family that just lost a son, and such strong words to a family looking for justice for their dead son. But unfortunately, justice never came, and a life needlessly taken away, was used for a phot op, and then tossed aside because a DA chose the easy path, he chose to put one in the win column instead of fighting for justice, instead being courageous and paving a path of hope for the other families that followed whom would also seek the same justice because their loved one was poisoned and killed needlessly.
Hollow words, and more hollower actions. No justice, no penalty, and no deterrence. Not even an acknowledgment or recognition of his death by the “system”. A killer goes on living his life, gets his freedom after only 14 months in prison, and a family is left to grieve their forgotten son, and serve their life sentence to never see his face or hear his voice again, but desperately trying to keep his memory alive to hopefully save the life of others.
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DA Bobby Christine's Press Conference (February 7th, 2022)
https://www.facebook.com/wrdwtv/videos/306050768162137/
Colin Magill's Arraignment/Bond Hearing (February 28th, 2022)
https://www.wrdw.com/2022/02/28/bond-denied-suspect-columbia-county-fentanyl-death/
DA Bobby Christine's Plea Deal Offer to Colin Magill (June 13th, 2022)
https://www.wrdw.com/2022/06/13/i-team-possible-plea-deal-columbia-co-fentanyl-murder-suspect/
Alex's Family Fighting for Justice (July 14th, 2022)
2nd. Anniversary of Alex’s Death (July 19th, 2022)
Colin Magills' Sentencing (November 9th, 2022)
https://www.wjbf.com/news/grovetown-man-sentenced-after-overdose-death-of-28-year-old-martinez-man/
https://www.wrdw.com/2022/11/09/man-sentenced-deadly-columbia-county-fentanyl-overdose-case/
Billboard Project Highlight – Augusta, GA (April 21st, 2023)
https://www.wrdw.com/2023/04/21/augusta-billboard-highlights-local-toll-fentanyl/
One Pill Can Kill Rally Augusta, GA (April 26th, 2023)
https://www.wrdw.com/video/2023/04/27/parents-fentanyl-poisoning-victims-rally-raise-awareness/
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Colin Magill's Release from Prison (February 12th, 2024)
Austin’s Law (June 5th, 2024)
https://www.wrdw.com/2024/06/06/family-fentanyl-victim-calls-stronger-overdose-laws/
https://www.wfxg.com/story/50871843/austins-law-aiming-to-curb-rise-in-fentanyl-related-deaths
