USA First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Dear Governor Hobbs,
I am an Ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall and a Licensed Associate
Substance Abuse Counselor here in Arizona working with patients suffering from substance
use disorders.
As a mother of two children, I’m sure you have educated your children on the dangers of
drugs. The number of deaths attributed to Fentanyl continues to compile daily here in
Arizona and nothing seems to be slowing it down. Innocent children have died after being
exposed to this poison.
I lost my youngest sister, Lindsay Nicole Adkins, to this poison. She was a mother of two
children, the youngest was a year-old precious little girl. My sister was such a caring person
that would do anything for anyone and just wanted to be loved and got involved with the
wrong crowd. As I'm sure you know, many are powerless over addiction, and she was just
not strong enough to overcome hers.
Every day, I read the tragic stories of people all over the world that have lost their loved
ones to this epidemic and it’s truly heartbreaking. Family members have had Memorial
Plaques made of their loved one in remembrance in an attempt to bring awareness and
honor them. The number of submissions just grows, daily. That being said, the DEA has a
Fentanyl Memorial Wall Exhibit in Arlington, West Virginia dedicated to those lost to Fentanyl
and they continue to accept new submissions despite having run out of room. They
responded to my submission back in November that, “due to the overwhelming amount of
submissions we are receiving, we are unfortunately slowly running out of space to put up
new photos that we’ve received and then planning on how to put them up in the most
efficient way.” This is why I am writing to you.
We would like to have hard copies of our loved ones in a permanent location displayed here
in the capital of Arizona like the DEA Fentanyl Memorial Wall Exhibit. Each of us that has
lost a loved one to this poison is working tirelessly in different ways to stop this epidemic
and save lives.
Please help our Arizona families in honoring those lost, whether poisoned during their
disease of addiction or innocently poisoned, by having a dedicated Wall. This will be a place
for loved ones to visit, friends/family to honor those lost to this epidemic, and a place for
others to bring their children to educate and spread awareness of the dangers of this deadly
poison.
Sincerely,
Beth Joly, State Lead
Mesa, AZ
(480) 343-6041
Beth_J_No_1@Msn.com
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