First lady Melania Trump encouraged her followers to visit the opioid memorial on the White House Ellipse that will be temporarily set up in April, depicting the 22,000 people who died in 2015 from prescription opioid overdose.
“We welcome the opioid memorial to the Ellipse in President’s Park in April. I encourage everyone to take a moment & visit this powerful exhibit,” Trump tweeted Tuesday evening. “Thank you to @NatlParkService & @NSCsafety for remembering the victims of this deadly crisis.”
We welcome the opioid memorial to the Ellipse in President’s Park in April. I encourage everyone to take a moment & visit this powerful exhibit. Thank you to @NatlParkService & @NSCsafety for remembering the victims of this deadly crisis.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 27, 2018
Earlier in the day, President Trump expressed similar sentiments following proposals he has made to help combat the crisis.
“We will keep fighting until we defeat the opioid crisis!” President Trump said on Twitter as he shared details concerning the memorial.
I am very pleased to welcome the opioid memorial to the President’s Park in April. I encourage all to visit and remember those who we have lost to this deadly epidemic. We will keep fighting until we defeat the opioid crisis! https://t.co/ZM7AYJyECr
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2018
The White House unveiled on Tuesday that the National Park Service and the nonprofit National Safety Council will host the memorial, which will be open from April 12 through April 18 to “educate visitors on the devastating impact of the opioid crisis.”
“These stories are tough to hear, and this exhibit will be an intensely emotional and somber experience,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. “But it’s also a reminder that lives are at stake and we must take action to end the plague of addiction that is ravaging communities all across our nation.”
The memorial will have a wall with engraved pills that will portray faces of those who died from opioids, along with notes that commemorate their lives. Previously, the exhibit was featured in U.S. cities such as Chicago and Pittsburgh.
The exhibit falls under the National Safety Council’s “Stop Everyday Killers” campaign and those who attend the exhibit will be given a card encouraging them to talk with their doctors about opioids.
There is an opioid crisis in this country and the death toll shows far too many zeros. 22,000 people die each year from prescription opioid overdoses. We put a face to each one. Join us at the memorial on the Ellipse at the @WhiteHouse, 4/12-4/18: https://t.co/u4iJOtpRc4 pic.twitter.com/33EcOeHKqM
— NSC (@NSCsafety) March 27, 2018
