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

Dear First Partner Siebel Newsom,
My name is Laurie Gordon. I had two beautiful boys; they were tattoo artists in Twentynine
Palms, Ca. Cameron, my oldest, (28), had suffered TBIs from bicycle accidents (he was a
BMX rider) and suffered from depression and anxiety. He was managed. My youngest, Aaron,
(23), was struggling with drug addiction. Cameron took Aaron out to get him away from the
drugs in Redlands, CA where we lived to apprentice him. They were well, until the pandemic.
When lockdowns came, they lost all income and worse, all socialization. They began sitting
around doing drugs and getting depressed.
On Nov 17, 2020, Aaron woke up and Cameron was gone. They had been partying the night
before and apparently, Cameron got fentanyl in his Percocet. Aaron said he got up to pee
around 5am and heard Cameron struggling to breathe, but he passed back out. He never
forgave himself.
For the next year he fought his addiction. He went to three state funded rehab programs
because I had no money, my entire savings went to Cameron’s cremation and memorial.
There was no money for burial.
In May of 2021, Aaron went into Teen Challenge Monterey Bay. He finally seemed to be
getting better. He was there until he talked his dad into taking him out early. He continued to
SEEM to do well, but he was living on the streets and relapsed. June 14, 2022, the day after
his sister’s birthday, the sheriff came to my door at 9pm. Aaron’s body had been found on an
access road. I’m still waiting for autopsy results, but it’s safe to say it was drugs.
I lost not one but TWO children to this drug epidemic. I’m heartsick every time a new mom
joins one of our support groups online. The worst now are the Junior High students that get
pills on Snapchat and die of fentanyl poisoning the first time they try what they think is Xanax
or something else that shouldn’t kill them!
We believe that our loved ones should be treated like victims of a weapon of mass
destruction. They were all victims of Purdue Pharma, Chinese and Mexican cartels. Our
group of California moms would love to meet with you and work together to prevent this from
happening ever again.
We urge you to help us find a permanent location for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall within
our capital. Our goal is to raise awareness about the devastating effects of drug addiction and
the dangers of fentanyl. We want to honor those who have lost their lives to this epidemic.
We believe that your support and involvement would be crucial in achieving this goal.
Sincerely,
Laurie Gordon - Redlands, CA
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