TUCSON, Ariz. — Parents took to the streets of downtown Tucson on Friday. They held signs displaying pictures of loved ones no longer alive because of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug. They tell their stories. They demand action. And they advocate for solutions.
"My daughter died over $5," Josephine Dunn said of her daughter Ashley Dunn, who died in May 2021. "My daughter's life was worth $5. I will never stop fighting."
Since her daughter's death, Josephine Dunn worked with State Representative Quang Nguyen to get a law imposing stricter punishments on fentanyl dealers. The law is in her daughter Ashley Dunn's name.
Josephine Dunn is one of many "moms on a mission" at the border. Danya Parriett, who also lost her daughter to fentanyl, and Beth Joly, who lost her sister, were at the border alongside Josephine Dunn.
"I think we need better treatment options. It needs to be readily available," Joly said. "We need to hand out harm reduction supplies. We need to pick these people up."
But it's not only stricter punishments and resources that parents are advocating for. Theresa Guerrero, who lost her son to fentanyl, encourages parents to educate not only themselves but their children on the effects of fentanyl.
"If I had known that fentanyl was out there with other drugs, you could be betting that I would have had that talk with my son all the time... till I was blue in the face," Guerrero said. "Then if he used it.. then it was his decision... but if he didn't know about it, he was murdered."
The group plans to travel to the border on Saturday to host another rally in Nogales and expressed their frustration toward the lack of leadership from elected officials.
“Why are moms going to the border and our legislators are not?” Dunn asked. “They're not helping us. We've been abandoned. No empathy, no care.”
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