BY GALE MELCHER<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0The CityBeat\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n JULY 20TH, 2024<\/p>\n On a billboard off of Battleground Avenue in Greensboro, 20 smiling faces flash grins through the screen \u2014 smiles that will forever be contained in pictures and their families\u2019 memories. All 20 people pictured on the billboard passed away after taking drugs they didn\u2019t know were laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug that is being mass-produced and added to other illicit drugs to increase their potency. This often results in death \u2014 in North Carolina,\u00a0183 deaths occurred this March<\/a>.<\/p>\n Next to the faces a message reads: \u201cHidden in so-called \u2018recreational\u2019 drugs, fentanyl steals families.\u201d<\/p>\n On July 6 around noon, families gathered around Elizabeth\u2019s Pizza facing the billboard to remember their loved ones and raise awareness about the dangers of illicit drugs.<\/p>\n Deborah Peeden lost her granddaughter Ashley in October 2021 and\u00a0shared her story with\u00a0TCB<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>last year.<\/p>\n In 2023, the\u00a0Drug Enforcement Administration seized<\/a>\u00a0more than 80 million fentanyl-laced fake pills. This year, that number has reached more than 28.1 million and is still climbing. Additionally, seven out of 10 pills seized by the DEA contain lethal doses of fentanyl.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Deborah Peeden stands next to an image of her granddaughter, Ashley, who thought <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n she was doing cocaine with friends when she died from fentanyl poisoning at age 23. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Photo by Gale Melcher)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In an interview, Peeden said that she felt it was important to put the billboard up to highlight the memory of locals lost to fentanyl. For the past two years, Peeden has paid for a billboard in memory of Ashley. Peeden is now an ambassador for\u00a0Facing Fentanyl<\/a>, a campaign that provides prevention education and opioid-reversal kits to schools.<\/p>\n \u201cSome days I\u2019m good, and other days it just hits out of the blue,\u201d Peeden said. \u201cShe\u2019s on my mind 24\/7 every single minute of every single day. She\u2019s got her birthday coming up on August 1.\u201d<\/p>\n Peeden explained that when dates like birthdays come around, she \u201ccan feel that tsunami wave coming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re drowning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n On July 6,\u00a0TCB<\/em>\u00a0spoke with other mothers who have lost their children to fentanyl poisoning;\u00a0\u00a0TCB<\/em>\u00a0is not publishing their names as their childrens\u2019 cases are still active. Many of the families have connected via support groups and bonded over their losses. One mother tugged at the layers of colorful bracelets on her wrist before finding the name of Thomas Lamb etched into a plastic bracelet. Thomas died from fentanyl poisoning in September 2022. She\u2019s friends with Thomas\u2019s mother,\u00a0Amy Lamb<\/a>, who still celebrates his birthday every year with his friends and family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A bracelet etched with the name of Thomas Lamb. In September 2022, Thomas, age 18, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n purchased a pill to help him sleep; he thought it was Xanax. It was fentanyl. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Photo by Gale Melcher)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A small child bobbed through the crowd, stopping to point at their loved one\u2019s face on the billboard and shout out their name. Some of the families are hopeful that they will be able to see some form of justice through North Carolina\u2019s death-by-distribution law, passed in 2019 and\u00a0recently updated on Dec. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The older version of the\u00a0law stated<\/a>\u00a0that a person is guilty of death by distribution if all of the following requirements are met: the person unlawfully sold at least one controlled substance such as an opioid, cocaine or methamphetamine, that the substance they sold caused the death of the user and that the person who sold the drug did not act with malice. The crime was a Class C felony, which\u00a0usually results in a 5-12 year prison sentence<\/a>\u00a0with a maximum sentence of 19 years.<\/p>\n The\u00a0updated version of the law<\/a>\u00a0removes the malice requirement or proof that the drug was sold. Under the new law, perpetrators can be charged with a Class C felony if they simply distribute a drug such as methamphetamine, fentanyl or cocaine that leads to a victim\u2019s death. If the perpetrator did act with malice, they could be charged with a Class B2 felony.<\/p>\n In an email to\u00a0TCB<\/em>, the Greensboro Police Department\u2019s Public Information Coordinator Patrick DeSota explained that in response to the updated law, the police department \u201cinstituted internal procedural changes in [their] response to suspected overdose deaths\u201d in an effort to further these types of investigations. DeSota added that they have implemented screening questions specific to suspected overdose investigations.<\/p>\n Peeden was a\u00a0vocal critic of GPD<\/a>\u00a0and the way they handled Ashley\u2019s case, and said she\u2019s \u201cglad\u201d the law has been updated.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping that that will make a big difference,\u201d Peeden said. \u201cWith Ashley\u2019s case, they just never did anything with hers. Nothing more than a police report.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Posters warn of the dangers of fentanyl. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Photo by Gale Melcher)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Still, communications specialist for Guilford County Sheriff\u2019s Office Bria Evans wrote that the change in law \u201cdoes not directly affect [their] investigative procedures\u201d but that it does \u201cmake it easier for [them] to criminally charge individuals\u201d because they no longer have to \u201cprove the actual \u2018sell\u2019 of the substance.\u201d<\/p>\n Another anonymous mother\u00a0TCB\u00a0<\/em>spoke to said that she hopes the updated law will send \u201cshockwaves\u201d to drug dealers, reverberating the message that selling drugs could have serious consequences.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Girl-holding-poster-640x480.png\")
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