Safety and Advocacy

 

John was not killed by addiction or overdose. He was killed by fellow Americans who purposely weaponized a substance for a predatory crime. This reality was not immediately recognized by law enforcement. We fought for the truth of what happened to John. We retraced his steps and refused to take no for an answer. Eventually, one of NYPD’s finest, then homicide detective Randy Rose, was assigned to John’s case. Detective Rose was committed to exceeding expectations and finding out what, how and who John was killed. He did his job.

 

Not everyone can be blessed with a Detective Rose. Not everyone can do what we were able to do. With this reality in mind, we are committed to:

 

A. Distributing 250 NARCAN/FTS (fentanyl test strips) kits in 2026 and increasing this number each year. We are distributing to LGBT groups, fraternities and sororities on college campuses, UBER, Lyft, and taxi drivers, bars and hotels, focusing on New York City, Washington, DC, and rural areas. While such a kit would not have saved John, it might have saved Julio Ramirez. These kits will save lives.

 B. Educating the public on

1. Drug-facilitated violence - these victims are not addicts; drugs are being used purposefully to incapacitate victims, victims are targeted through dating apps and social settings, often crimes look like overdoses.

2. The importance of staying in groups, having check-in partners if separated or if out alone, and NOT going off with people you just met at a club or similar. Setting up safety measures and precautions when going out to enjoy. It is commonplace to get in a stranger’s vehicle when we use Ubers and similar services. We meet up with people we do not know and have only been briefly acquainted with through the internet. We forget there are bad people who want to hurt us. We will do this through speaking directly to groups, social media and developing an app.

3. Recreational drug users (yes, that is reality, and everyone should be aware and have protection on them for a tragedy) and addicts should always carry FTS and NARCAN.

C. Working with law enforcement to encourage seeing fentanyl related deaths not as overdoses but broadening their net to include drug-facilitated crime.

D. Supporting families as they seek justice for their loved ones in a suspicious drug-related death

E. Working with dating apps, hotels, bars, and cities (police, community groups, colleges) to recognize patterns.

F. Working with legislative bodies to legally recognize that crimes are committed with fentanyl and lidocaine as weapons. We set a legal precedent in NY, but there are no laws. The President’s Executive Order, signed in December 2025, does not cover fentanyl as a weapon when used in a case like John’s murder.

G. Provide safety alerts when patterns are noticed in cities