“Paul, don’t be so ‘negative!’”

Drinking coffee, talking to a friend.

“You’ve got to be careful. People today are tired of negativity. Try to offer positive news, Paul, don’t be so negative!”

I did not react, but my mind raced to all those media inflection points—a hurricane, school shooting, airplane crash, the recent fires here in Southern California, or the latest in presidential politics.

All that sizzle.

Why is it okay that the media can be “negative” all day, every day, but I shouldn’t be “negative” about the greatest killer in the U.S. of our youngest adult population?

I keep telling the dozens of mothers and fathers organizing a Walk for Lives on September 20th: “Nobody understands this crisis better than you. When you tell your story to thousands on that day, there will be no better way to educate the public than that.”

These walks are intended to create and support fentanyl-safe communities nationwide as part of United Against Fentanyl’s mission of “interrupting the use of illicit fentanyl through innovative, bold, and effective initiatives.

Here is one of those parents, a father, Andy. He leads the walk in Leavenworth, Missouri.

Here is Andy’s story about Cruzie, a 13-year-old when it happened.

Our Cruzie is not with us anymore... from being a kid. Yes! His sentence is for eternity for being an inquisitive, curious, child. Just like YOU and I were growing up, (you remember being an adolescent). He wanted to experience getting high with a drug he's heard from social media platform Snapchat.

He connected with a local drug dealer, (a baby himself at 19 yrs old), and advertised what he had to sell... (Torin was arrested, convicted, and is spending a short 13 years in prison for murdering our son - thanks to our KS AG and KBI). Molly's, Perc, Weed... Oh Boy! Cruz asked for a Percocet. Torin delivered this pill to Cruz easier and faster you and I can get a pizza delivered... for $20.00 - there is no more Cruz....

But this tragedy gets darker... as Torin and Cruz were making the plans for delivery, (1130pm on Tuesday - a school night while Rhonda, Jaci -our daughter and I slept), Cruz was facetiming his two closest friends to show off him taking a drug and getting high. Cruz thought this drug would get him warm and fuzzy, and they would laugh about it.

There the boys were, facetiming each other and experiencing Cruz getting high. What the two boys witnessed was Cruz ingesting this FAKE drug laced in FENTYNAL, instantly falling to his side on the bed, and DIE!

My wife woke him for school... screamed, and I provided CPR until 1st responders arrived... no more Cruz.

I’ve spoken with Andy. He calls me Pablo. He’s such a nice guy and a normal parent—nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.

I have received over 200 stories like Andy’s. I could copy and paste them. There are approximately 75,000 deaths each year, like Cruzie’s. Some were toddlers. Some teenagers. Most young adults.

My response.

Thank you for sharing your story about Cruz. It is all just so breathtaking. I so appreciate what you said about him being a normal adolescent…trying stuff, breaking away, experimenting. That is EXACTLY what is means to be a normal teen.

And of course today just being normal could mean death for thousands.

And thank you for allowing us to share your story. I’m in a place where I’m convinced that all the statistics, while important, don’t come close to educating the public—we will not adequately educate people about fentanyl with just statistics. That is much of Walk for Lives is about—featuring the actual families in hundreds communities to “own” the message, with their stories. In doing so, sending a national message.

I do plan on using what you wrote, so again thank you for allowing permission. I have a few platforms I use. Again, we can’t just use obscure data…we have to let people know what really happens, and stories are the very best way to do this.

Feel free to reach out anytime, and it’s an honor to join you in this fight against this poison.

That’s all I have today.

I hope I wasn’t too negative.