Attorney General Merrick Garland became visibly emotional Friday while addressing the “gravity of the loss” families in the United States have dealt with under the fentanyl crisis.
“As we work to strengthen the community responses to addiction and to break apart the fentanyl supply chain, we promise that we will never forget those that we have lost,” Garland said while speaking to families and friends of victims of the fentanyl epidemic.
“There are many staggering statistics on the fentanyl crisis, but none of them adequately grasp the gravity of the loss,” he continued before stopping for an emotional pause. “They do not capture the feeling you have told me about, the person missing at your dinner table. They do capture the days and nights spent in mourning. They do not capture the heartbreak that a friend, a parent, a child, or a partner’s life has been cut short.”
Over 107,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2023, and 75,000 of those people died from synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Those people who are left behind but chose to speak out represent the legacy of fentanyl victims, according to the attorney general.
“You have chosen a legacy of compassion, of love, but of determination and resolve,” Garland said. “Every time we look at the faces of fentanyl in the DEA headquarters lobby, we remind ourselves of why we are in this fight, and we promise that we will carry your loved ones in our heart and in our continued work to end the poisoning and overdose epidemic.”
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Garland’s tenure as the nation’s attorney general is ending, but he made clear his admiration for the Drug Enforcement Administration officials who will continue the fight against fentanyl.
“I am so proud of the extraordinary men and women of DEA who will continue to work tirelessly to save lives,” he said. “And I am so proud of all of you.”