Summary: Today marks the release of a new public service announcement, “Dead on Arrival,” a short film about fentanyl’s deadly role in the U.S. illicit drug market.
Today marks the release of a new public service announcement, “Dead on Arrival,” a short film about fentanyl’s deadly role in the U.S. illicit drug market. Earlier this year, the CDC announced that 93,000 citizens perished from opioid drugs in 2020, and that 70% were killed by fentanyl, driven mainly by counterfeit opioids and tainted drugs purporting be something else. In 2021, this figure is expected to rise significantly and will not stop, as long as there is demand, drug cartels remain active, and SnapChat, Facebook, and others can serve as the main communication conduits.
Dead on Arrival (Facebook video) – https://fb.watch/8i9IJ_a7t-/
The PSA, “Dead on Arrival,” was produced, written, directed, and photographed by Dominic Tierno and Christine Wood.
“Dead on Arrival” is focused on the people at risk. Those at risk include casual users, partygoers, experimenters, regular users, and even unsuspecting bystanders who may come into contact with the powerful opioid. The film explores the stories of four families who lost loved ones to fentanyl in various ways and its larger impact on communities of all types.
In addition to the suffering and pain that fentanyl has brought to families and neighborhoods, the film is also a primer on what makes this epidemic so deadly and pervasive. It looks at manufacture, counterfeiting, marketing, and distribution process that allows fentanyl to sneak into anyone’s home.
The interviews in “Dead on Arrival” are powerful first-person accounts of fentanyl deaths told by surviving parents who started V.O.I.D. (Victims of Illicit Drugs), a foundation created to spread awareness and educate others in order to prevent further lives lost. Stories include:
- Amy Neville survived her son, Alexander Neville (14)
- Steve Filson survived his daughter, Jessica Filson (29)
- Jaime Puerta survived his son, Daniel Puerta (16)
- Matt Capelouto survived his daughter, Alexandra Capelouto (20)
The opioid crisis, birthed by pharmaceutical companies, has been supplanted by the fentanyl epidemic. Through counterfeiting, fentanyl and its analogs now account for nearly all of the illicit opioid market and is easily found in heroin and non-opioid drugs like cocaine, MDMA, Xanax, Ketamine, as well as many more “designer drugs.”
The problem needs to be shared so that “we the people” may solve it together. Solutions to this crisis require public and user awareness, universal mental health and substance abuse assistance, homicide investigations, and a clamp down on SnapChat, Facebook, and other platforms that provide dealers a marketplace and a large customer base.
Media Contacts:
Jaime Puerta, jaime.p@stopthevoid.org, 951-314-3044
