(NewsNation) — In 2021, more than 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses. That statistic represents thousands more loved ones mourning someone they lost.
On Monday, the U.S. will observe National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show hundreds of people die each day from opioid overdoses, and the majority of those involve synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
Andrea Thomas lost her daughter to a fentanyl overdose. She is the founder of Voices for Awareness, an organization designed to raise awareness about the dangers of the synthetic drug.
One reason she founded the nonprofit is because of false beliefs about fentanyl.
“We have the stereotype that the people that are dying from these dangerous drugs, are people that are already using,” Thomas said. “What’s really happening in this changed drug landscape is that people that are unsuspecting, taking pills that they believe to be a prescription pill that are really counterfeit and killing them.”
Other drugs can also be laced with fentanyl, leading people to be unaware of what they are really ingesting. People may also be unaware of how strong fentanyl is and how easily it can lead to an overdose.
On Monday, Thomas and her group will be in New York City in an effort to let people know how dangerous fentanyl can be.
“We want to warn Americans about these dangers and hopefully save some lives and spare their families from what we’ve experienced,” she said.