Fentanyl is the number one cause of death in America for people ages 18 to 45 years old.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Fentanyl is the number one cause of death in America for people ages 18 to 45 years old.
APALD put up two billboards, one at North and Metcalf Streets, the other on Cable Road.
You may have seen that message on billboards around Lima from the non-profit group the Association of People Against Lethal Drugs, or APALD. The group put up two billboards, one at North and Metcalf Streets, the other on Cable Road. Diane Urban founded APALD following the death of her son Jordan to fentanyl poisoning over five years ago. The pictures on the billboard are of Jordan and of others, some locally, who have lost their lives to the synthetic drug. Urban doesn't think there is enough awareness of the deadly effects of fentanyl.
Urban hopes the billboards urge people to get involved and help educate children and others about the effects of fentanyl.
"People don't understand; they always think it is never going to happen to them. But right now, I think it's every three people in America knows someone who has died from fentanyl poisoning. It's out there, and it can happen to anybody. People who suffer from mental issues, they are at risk. Teenagers at parties experimenting with drugs they are at risk. It is just so important," says Diane Urban, Founder, APALD.
Urban says no parent should go through the same thing she did when she lost Jordan.
"My son was just a kind individual. He had a good heart. He went to Teens for Christ. He did everything right; he was in to sports. But he got in over his head in drugs. And he did get clean, but then he relapsed. And when he relapsed after being clean for 9 months, he got fentanyl, and it killed him instantly. I found him in his bedroom, and that is a sight I will never unsee," stated Urban.
Urban hopes the billboards urge people to get involved and help educate children and others about the effects of fentanyl. For more information about the group, log on to weareapald.org.
