It’s not just about saving our kids. It’s about saving our humanity.
You don’t have to be a mother to oppose drug death markets.
We are mothers of children who have been killed by fentanyl, at immediate risk of being killed by fentanyl, and who want to prevent more children from dying. But many more of us are stepping up, as parents, and citizens of California, to demand that we shut down the drug death markets, create psychiatry for all, and adopt a “Shelter First” policy for drug addicted homeless, so they can get the help they need.
Mothers Against Drug Deaths was co-founded by Jacqui Berlinn, whose homeless son Corey, addicted to fentanyl, is at imminent risk of dying; Amy Neville, whose 14 year old son was killed in 2020 by a counterfeit pill made to look like legitimate oxycodone which was actually fentanyl; and by Chie Lunnon, a Venice Beach resident and mother of two concerned about the spread of drug death markets across California.
The three launched Mothers Against Drug Deaths on August 16, 2021, in a protest against the open drug markets of Sacramento. Berlinn cofounded Stop Fentanyl Deaths and protested fentanyl dealing in San Francisco and Venice Beach in June and July 2021.
Shut Down the Drug Death Markets
California cities are allowing open air drug markets, while social media companies like Snapchat are allowing digital drug markets. They must be shut down. Now.
Mothers Against Drug Deaths brings together two sets of parents who met while protesting the open air dealing of fentanyl in Venice Beach.
But it shouldn’t be up to us. Law enforcement and social services must work together starting now to shut down open drug scenes, arrest deadly and violent drug dealers, and get addicted people the addiction and psychiatric care they need.
Psychiatry for All
Rising drug deaths and homelessness are not entirely the fault of California’s counties. Counties are part of the solution. But addiction and psychiatric services must be efficiently and cost-effectively delivered at the state level. This means more of everything: recovery, medically-assisted drug treatment, psych beds, conservatorship, assisted outpatient treatment, mobile vans, and residential care facilities.