ORLANDO, Fla. — Families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses gathered in Orlando Thursday to help raise awareness about the dangers of the substance.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami Field Division hosted its third annual and first regional Family Summit on Fentanyl, where the focus was on saving lives.
Della Griffin is a mother who says she can’t help but tear up when she talks about her son, Jon Wiggins.
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“I said goodnight to him, and I never dreamed I‘d never see him again or hear his voice,” Griffin recalled. “He was a Marine and National Guard.”
On Thursday, Jon’s photograph was featured alongside dozens of others, all victims of fentanyl.
In 2023 DEA seized 80M+ fentanyl-laced fake Rx pills & 12K+ lbs of fentanyl powder. That’s over 381M deadly doses of fentanyl. Join DEA in remembering the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning by submitting a photo of a loved one lost to fentanyl.#JustKNOW https://t.co/twuaZM9NbW pic.twitter.com/ugyiZcdU8K
— DEAMiami (@DEAMIAMIDiv) June 17, 2024
The overall goal of the Florida Family Summit is to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and to find collaborative solutions to reduce overdose deaths.
“Losing a loved one to drug poisoning or overdose is even more heart-wrenching because the families don’t really know what happened,” DEA Miami Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter explained.
“It only takes one pill to kill” is the campaign’s slogan.
Jon Griffin was 46 years old when he passed, but experts say the drug is now finding its way into younger hands.
An average of approximately 22 teens aged 14 to 18 die each week from fentanyl overdoses, according to a UCLA study.
Law enforcement heads say they’re doing their best to get the drug off the streets by targeting the illegal production, manufacturing, and distribution of fentanyl.
READ: ‘Guaranteed poison:’ Orlando woman charged after investigation into overdose death
For Della Griffin, it only takes a few words to save a life.
“I talk to people every day, hence the purple hair,” Griffin said. “It opens doors...I get to share the stories about my son.”
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