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Trump outlines plan to tackle drug abuse

A North St. Louis County family believes prevention should be at the forefront of the conversation.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — At an event in New Hampshire Monday, President Trump outlined his plan to tackle the opioid epidemic. It involves sentencing high-volume drug traffickers to the death penalty. He will ask Congress for $6 billion to pay for the initiative.

"If you break the law and illegally peddle these deadly poisons, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable," Trump said.

A North St. Louis County family believes prevention should be at the forefront of the conversation. Patti and Ellis Fitzwalter's son, Michael, was 22-years-old when he died.

"I found his body here in our house," Patti Fitzwalter said.

Heroin and anti-anxiety medications were in Michael's blood. The abuse started a few years prior with prescription drugs. After Michael wrecked his car, his parents discovered he was also using heroin.

"We talked to him about the dangers of prescription drug abuse not knowing that it was so widespread and that everybody was doing it," Patti Fitzwalter said.

Now, the Fitzwalters are advocates.

"We formed an organization called H.E.A.L., which is an acronym for Heroin Education and Awareness League," Ellis Fitzwalter said.

Through H.E.A.L., the Fitzwalters have visited schools to educate children about the dangers of drug abuse. H.E.A.L. will have a kickoff walk April 26.

Monday, the Fitzwalters weighed in on Trump's plan to get tough on drug traffickers.

"It's going to get some bad people off the street but when one gets off the street, two more are going to pop up," Patti Fitzwalter said. "So it's really not going to help this problem. What's going to help this problem is prevention and treatment."

Howard Weissman, executive director of NCADA, agrees.

"The more it's treated as a criminal problem and not a public health problem, the less likely it is we're really going to be able to get ahead of it," Weissman said.

Weissman says, in St. Louis and surrounding counties, around two people die of an overdose per day. He says pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and doctors contribute to the epidemic.

"If he wants to be serious about enforcement then he needs to empower the DEA to investigate drug manufacturers and distributors," Weissman said.

The president is threatening "major litigation" against drug companies that have played a role in the opioid crisis.

Trump also said building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border would keep drugs out. Weissman says fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is largely manufactured in China and comes to the U.S. through Canada.

"It's not just coming from Mexico,"Weissman said. "Unless he intends to build two walls, he's not going to stop the flow of fentanyl."

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