By Frank Spotorno with Dan Murphy
My wife Margarida and I lost our son, Eriko, seven months ago. We recently received his autopsy report, which found that he died from an overdose of Fentanyl.
Eriko had been struggling with drug addiction for many years, but he was not taking opioids and did not know that he was taking Fentanyl when he bought it on the street. We also know that he did not want to die; he had three daughters to live for and was always willing to go back into rehab and try to stay clean.
My family is not alone. Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of Opioid abuse, and most of those deaths were from Fentanyl.
We have all heard this story, which has played out for the past 20 years, but nothing seems to change, and as a result 1.5 million Americans have died of opioid and fentanyl overdose. It starts with the over prescription of legal pain medications. But once the prescriptions ran out, many Americans looked for that same high in illegal drugs like heroin and synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, which is made in China and shipped across the border through Mexico.
What do we know about this poisonous drug? Most Fentanyl is made in China and smuggled into the US through Mexico. While some of the Fentanyl ending up on the streets of our cities comes in through smugglers crossing the border, the larger shipments are coming in through trucks and containers, with other goods. It is very hard to detect because such a small dose can be deadly.
We are sitting by as our fellow Americans are dying. This sad tale is another example of wasting our talent, our loved ones, our neighbors. I believe that another reason for the Fentanyl epidemic in our country is our bogus free trade agreements, which I have been fighting against for 30 years.
I ran for Congress in 2016 to “Bring our Jobs Home,” and we need those jobs now more than ever, because a lot of our friends and families fighting drug addiction could have found peace and stability in the manufacturing jobs that we sent overseas. But those same containers that come in from China and from Mexico with clothes and electronics, also contain Fentanyl.
Prescription opioid abuse has already taken a devastating toll on our communities seeing a terrifying rise in the number of cases of counterfeit prescription pills being sold on the streets of America and online. The public must be aware that while these pills may look like prescription drugs, they likely contain the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. A lethal dosage of fentanyl is just two milligrams, equivalent in size to a few grains of salt, as compared to a lethal dose of heroin at 30 milligrams, and that’s why communities everywhere have tragically experienced more fatal overdoses.
That pill you bought off the street could be the last one you ever take. Take it from me….many sons and daughters have been victims of government officials not taking these tragic deaths seriously, especially on our children, are taking a serious toll on the victims’ families by choosing to turn a blind eye that our borders finally need to be secured.
Counterfeit pills are incredibly dangerous because these imitation pills often look exactly like prescription Oxycodone in size, shape, color, and markings. Lab tests reveal a dramatic rise in the number of counterfeit pills containing at least two milligrams of fentanyl, which is considered a lethal dose. A deadly dose of fentanyl is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil. And if it weren’t for the outstanding work of first responders administering naloxone (an opioid antagonist that rapidly reverse opioid overdose) and saving lives of those who have overdosed, the number of deaths would be much, much higher”.
Unless prescription drugs are obtained from an authorized medical provider or pharmacy, the public should not consume or even handle these pills. The synthetic opioids contained in them are often lethal if consumed even if in the smallest amounts. I’m urging you to share this potentially life-saving message with friends and family today.
Until we secure our borders effectively, Mexican cartels certainly will continue to have the greatest direct impact” on the U.S. fentanyl market in the coming years, the DEA cautions.
We also need to hold those in China who are manufacturing Fentanyl accountable, once and for all. And finally, to the drug dealer who gave my son the lethal dose of Fentanyl without him knowing, you need to be punished.
I am going to be working on this issue until our elected officials take action-and serious action. I hope to share with you more columns and information in the weeks to come. If you wish to join me in this effort, please contact Dan Murphy at dmurphy@risingmediagroup.com
Let us use this sorrowful moment for my wife and I to be used to help others, so that other families don’t have to go through what 100,000 of us go through in the United States every year.
