WASHINGTON (WWJ) – A Metro Detroit mother who lost her two sons to an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2020 is calling for change.
Rebecca Kiessling of Rochester Hills testified before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on Tuesday, sharing her story of pain with members of Congress and arguing the government isn’t doing enough to prevent illegal drugs from coming into the country.
During her emotional testimony, Kiessling shared how her sons – 20-year-old Caleb and 18-year-old Kyler – “were taken away from me” and said she is far from alone.
“100,000 Americans every year are having their children taken away from them,” a tearful Kiessling said. “This should not be politicized. It’s not about race. Fentanyl doesn’t care about race. You’re welcoming drug dealers across our border. You’re giving them protection. You’re not protecting our children.”
The CDC reported more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2020, with two-thirds of them related to synthetic opioids, like fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, but 50-to-100 times more potent. China and Mexico remain the primary source countries for fentanyl entering the United States, often in the form of fake prescription pills.
In late July 2020 the Kiessling brothers believed they were taking Percocet in an Oakland County hotel room, but the pills turned out to be laced with fentanyl. Another teen, 17-year-old Sophia Harris, was also killed.
Kiessling said authorities used the overdose-reversing spray Narcan to save the “dealer,” Lorenzo Brabo, who is now serving prison time, according to a report from the Detroit News.
Kiesling said she doesn’t like to use the term “drug overdose.”
“This is a war. Act like it. Do something,” she told Congress. “If we had Chinese troops lining up along our Southern border with weapons aimed at our people, with weapons of mass destruction aimed at our cities, you damn well know you would do something about it.”
During her testimony, Kiessling cited the number of overdose deaths in the year Caleb was born – 20,000 in 2000. In just two decades that number multiplied five times.
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