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Opioid-Abuse Memorial Debuts Outside White House

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WASHINGTON – The opioid-abuse memorial, located outside the White House, is open to the public April 12.

It includes a wall of 22,000 faces of people who have died from opioid-related overdoses.

"we really hope people come away from this memorial reflective and remembering those that we've lost and also those feeling like they are empowered to make a difference and do their own part to save these deaths," said Maureen Vogel, National Security Council.

It's a growing epidemic that claims 116 American lives every day, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

That alarming statistic prompted President Donald Trump to call for the death penalty for those who traffic drugs.

"If we don't get touch on the drug dealers, we are wasting our time and that toughness includes the death penalty," Trump warned.

The Trump administration declared a "public health emergency" last October and renewed that declaration in January by authorizing funds to stop drugs, like fentanyl and heroin, from entering the country.

President Trump secured $6 billion to tackle the crisis with plans to launch anti-drug commercials and provide Narcan, an antidote which counteracts drug overdoes, to schools and colleges free of charge.

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About The Author

Ben
Kennedy

Ben Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning White House correspondent for CBN News in Washington, D.C. He has more than a decade of reporting experience covering breaking news nationwide. He's traveled cross country covering the President and scored exclusive interviews with lawmakers and White House officials. Kennedy spent seven years reporting for WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. While there he reported live from Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Matthew hit the island. He was the first journalist to interview Diana Nyad moments after her historic swim from Cuba to Key West. He reported