Wall memorializes opioid victims

The AAC, Arkansas Municipal League, and other sponsors joined Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to bring the traveling Prescribed to Death: A Memorial to the Victims of the Opioid Crisis exhibit to Fayetteville in October. The exhibit was on display for seven days at the University of Arkansas. The wall is part of the National Safety Council’s effort to put a face, rather than statistics, on the opioid crisis. The black paneled wall features 22,000 engraved white pills, each bearing the face of an opioid overdose victim.

“The data speak to our head but the individual stories speak to our hearts. The Prescribed to Death memorial not only brings visitors face to face with this everyday killer, but also encourages actions that will help us eliminate these preventable deaths,” Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council said in a news release.

Top: University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz looks at the Prescribed to Death Wall, which features 22,000 white pills to represent the number of Americans who died due to opioid overdose in 2015. Bottom Left: Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Association of Arkansas Counties Executive Director Chris Villines pose for a photograph at the unveiling ceremony. Bottom Right: Andy Agar speaks to attendees and shares the story of how his family lost a son, Jake, to drug addiction.

Above: The Prescribed to Death wall features 22,000 white pills, each with a face engraved on it, to represent the number of Americans who died due to opioid overdose in 2015. There is a pill missing on the third row down of this section of the wall.

Middle: Jake Agar, 21 and a student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, died of an opioid overdose on December 4, 2013. The traveling exhibit allows viewers to enter the name of a loved one they have lost to opioids. Jake’s father, Andy Agar, added his son’s name to the display.

Bottom left: After sharing the moving story of how his son struggled with addiction, Andy Agar, added a white pill representing Jake Agar to the empty spot on the Prescribed to Death wall.