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CHICAGO - An organization has launched a billboard campaign across Chicago to urge political leaders like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who are in town for the Democratic National Convention, to address the fentanyl crisis.
The campaign, which includes over 60 billboards across the city, delivers a blunt message: "Fentanyl is a Weapon of Mass Destruction." The billboards also feature a skull image symbolizing the massive death toll fentanyl has caused, according to the organization Families Against Fentanyl (FAF).
The group is calling on leaders to prioritize the fentanyl epidemic, which they said – citing CDC data – has claimed 75,000 lives in the U.S. in 2023 alone. They want aggressive measures put in place to stop the drug's flow into the states.
Fentanyl billboard | Provided by Families Against Fentanyl (FAF)
"Every seven minutes on average, another family like mine is losing a loved one to illicit fentanyl," said founder of FAF Jim Rauh, who lost his son to fentanyl poisoning.
The campaign follows similar efforts by FAF at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month.
National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day is on Wednesday.