Bereaved families head to Capitol Hill to tell candidates to say fentanyl

Hundreds of families who lost loved ones to fentanyl are gathering in Washington this weekend to pressure congressional candidates to name the drug and confront the overdose crisis. United Against Fentanyl is pairing Friday lobbying on Capitol Hill with a Saturday march on the National Mall and a new international summit on synthetic drugs.

Why it matters: - Fentanyl remains a central driver of the U.S. overdose crisis. - In 2024, nearly 48,000 Americans died from overdose or poisoning involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. - Families say candidates have spent the campaign season avoiding the word even as the crisis continues. - United Against Fentanyl argues that naming fentanyl is the minimum first step for any candidate claiming to protect families.

What happened: - Bereaved families are coming to the U.S. Capitol on Friday, Sept. 25, with one request for Senate and House candidates: say fentanyl. - Families from nearly 40 states are expected to participate. - The group will gather in front of the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. for photographs and a public reading of United Against Fentanyl’s five policy priorities. - On Saturday, Sept. 26, the families will return for the national Walk for Lives on the National Mall at 9:30 a.m. - United Against Fentanyl will also convene the first International Summit on Synthetic Drugs Saturday evening at Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus.

The details: - Families will spend Friday in state delegations, including Ohio families meeting at Ohio offices and Texas families meeting at Texas offices. - Participants will hand-deliver constituent letters written by parents who buried a child, along with a declaration for policy change. - United Against Fentanyl says it has generated nearly 10,000 letters to Senate and House members since launching its policy platform this year. - The organization says 90% of those letters came from bereaved family members. - The five policy priorities call for a victims’ fund and National Opioid Crisis Memorial financed by seized cartel assets, prevention education for every American student, easier access to treatment than illegal drugs, sustained support for long-term recovery, and a global treaty to disrupt the synthetic drug supply at its source. - The declaration does not name any bill or party. - United Against Fentanyl describes itself as nonpartisan and says it endorses no candidate or party. - The July 11 Walk for Lives mobilization included 110 events in one day. - That effort drew more than 9,000 participants across 38 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, along with more than 500 community partners and Drug Enforcement Administration field divisions. - The weekend summit is free, but advance registration is required. - Speakers scheduled for the summit include Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution; Regina LaBelle and Richard Baum, former acting directors of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Jim Crotty, former DEA official; Greg Gatjanis, former associate director at U.S. Treasury OFAC; and Ben Westhoff, author of “Fentanyl, Inc.” - Media credentials are open for all three events, and interviews are available in advance with bereaved parents from across the country. - More information is available at United Against Fentanyl.

Between the lines: - The campaign is designed to make fentanyl politically unavoidable without forcing candidates to endorse a specific bill. - The focus on bereaved parents gives the effort emotional force and broadens its appeal beyond traditional advocacy politics. - The group is trying to turn grief into a measurable lobbying and turnout operation, not just a memorial event. - The Saturday summit suggests United Against Fentanyl wants to move beyond protest and into policy development and expert convening.

What’s next: - Families will press candidates during the final six weeks of the campaign to speak publicly about fentanyl. - United Against Fentanyl is positioning the weekend as part of a broader push to keep synthetic-drug deaths on the national agenda. - The organization is likely to use the weekend events and summit to sustain pressure on lawmakers after the November election.

The bottom line: - United Against Fentanyl is using Capitol Hill lobbying, a National Mall march and a policy summit to force fentanyl into the center of the 2026 campaign conversation.