My brother, Neiko, was only 26 years old when he fell victim to a lethal dose of fentanyl. A female local drug  dealer, out of Jacksonville, Florida, preyed on my brother’s pain and hurt. She knew his personal stories. She introduced him to meth, heroin and then fentanyl. Heroin was becoming harder to acquire so, fentanyl was the last thing she introduced him to.
Assuring my brother these drugs would numb his pain. Neiko suffered from depression, PTSD and anxiety. Although, he would hide it well most often. He fought so hard to stay away from the drugs, but they’re so powerful, he would go crawling back to them. 
 He had been clean but unfortunately relapsed and returned to his usual dealer. This dealer, known for possessing fentanyl and other deadly drugs, has yet to be held accountable for my brother's death or the countless others she has endangered.
Now my two-year-old niece is left father-less.

Neiko was funny, handsome, smart, loved hard. He wanted to go to barber school and open his own businesses. He always saw the positive side to anything.
His daughter was everything to him and he wanted to be clean and get his self together. He did not want to be an addict. 
He was the only Father his girlfriend’s daughter knew. Now she’s without him as well as his family. 

The devastating impact of fentanyl is not unique to our family; it's a nationwide crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), synthetic opioids like fentanyl are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States. In 2018 alone, nearly 32,000 people died from an overdose involving synthetic opioids. In 2023 the overdose death rate topped 112,000 in a 12 month period for the first time. In only five years over dose deaths nearly quadrupled. 

We need change now more than ever before. We demand stricter laws regarding selling fentanyl on our streets and harsher punishments for dealers found guilty of causing harm through their actions. Possession charges must carry serious consequences; if a dealer is caught in possession or found responsible for selling lethal doses that result in death, they should face no less than manslaughter charges with potential escalation up to murder charges.

There should be no chance of probation or house arrest along with no bond option available – we must send a clear message that dealing death will not be tolerated by society anymore.

Please sign this petition today - let's make sure that dealers are held accountable under law so we can prevent further tragedies like Neiko's from happening again.