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

Dear Mrs. Murphy,
My name is Joe Adipietro, I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial
Wall, and I lost my son, Brian, to an accidental overdose/poisoning on June 22,
2019. He was 38. My story echoes too many other similar stories. When Brian was
12 years old, he was injured on vacation and was prescribed pain medication. From
that point forward, he struggled with addiction/Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Upon
his death, there was enough fentanyl to kill five people was found in his system.
Brian was an amazing, kind and compassionate person, and left us with many gifts
that we continue to share in his memory. Advocating for desperately needed change
to help save lives is our mission, and I am asking for your help in this endeavor.
Brian showed kindness and compassion to all people and animals. Even when he
had few material possessions, he gave what little he had to others in need. After his
passing, I was told by a few people that they felt he saved their lives. That brings me
pride and tears of joy. In his honor, I continue to spread kindness.
The landscape of blame is vast, from Brian not reaching out for help, to myself for
not seeing the signs of his struggles, to big Pharma and the media for its continual
promotion that we need a drug or a pill to feel better, to look better or to be happy
and healthy. Our society, with hurtful and harmful stigmas, outdated laws and our
unjust treatment of people struggling with a proven disease is culpable, as well.
Why are we still punishing those who suffer from SUD's with incarceration, isolation
and stigmatization? Separating them from society is the exact opposite of what they
need. Like every person struggling with a disease, they need our love, our support
and our help. Beyond blame, how do we fix things?
Every day, I wake up knowing 300 or more innocent people in this country will die
the same way Brian died. Synthetic drugs are getting stronger and stronger. We
must act now. Awareness is the first step, and you can help in a very impactful way.
We have created two Drug Epidemic Memorial Walls, one with photos and one with
names. Our children and loved ones are victims. The were lied to and used by
Purdue Pharma. Today they are victims of the Chinese criminal networks and
Mexican Cartels, as well as insufficient government action.
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