Anti-heroin organizations from all across the country will be conducting simultaneous anti-heroin rallies and memorials in high-profile locations in many cities across the United States on Saturday, September the 15^th.  This national event originated in St. Louis and spread across the nation.

The purpose of these rallies and memorials is to bring awareness of the heroin epidemic and the death and destruction it is causing nationwide into the public eye, and to pay our respects to the tens of thousands of young people who have been lost to the heroin epidemic in recent years.

Heroin and opiate-related death has become the #1 cause of accidental death in the United States, surpassing even traffic accidents and US war deaths combined in the past ten years.  Heroin is killing our young people at an extremely alarming rate due to the lack of awareness that this drug is readily available in our communities, is cheaper than a six-pack of beer, and is so extremely addictive that there is less than a 5% recovery rate after first-time use.

Confirmed speakers at the St. Louis rally and memorial includes Mayor Nick Guccione of Wentzville, State's Attorney Tom Gibbons of Madison County, Clinical Social Worker Jon Gergeceff, former Cook County Prosecutor Chad Sabora, and Marilyn Smashey, a St. Louis area mother who lost her only son to the epidemic at age 18.  The event will include somber ceremonies to honor and remember the loved ones lost, and will include family and children’s activities prior to the speakers.  The rally will be a family-friendly event.

Confirmed and reserved rally and memorial locations already include:

St. Louis, Missouri – Grand Staircase of the Gateway Arch (6:00 PM)

Berwyck, Pennsylvania – Jackson Mansion Grounds (1:00 PM)

Cincinnati, Ohio – Devou Park Amphitheatre (10:00 AM)

Mt. Clemens, Michigan – Macomb County Courthouse (7:00 PM)

Tucson, Arizona – Tucson City Hall (5:00 PM)

Simi Valley, California – Simi Valley City Hall (9:00 AM)

Brockton, Massachusetts – Brockton High School (Time TBA)

Lapeer, Michigan – Lapeer County Courthouse (7:00 PM)

Camden, New Jersey – Camden Cathedral (6:30 PM)

Thousand Oaks, California – Thousand Oaks Shopping Mall (10:00 AM)

Additionally, rallies are forming in at least 30 more cities in Florida, Virginia, Washington, Ohio, California, Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and  Colorado … locations and times to be announced as confirmed.

Attendance at the rallies will collectively number in the thousands, with some individual events already exceeding 500 expected participants.  The St. Louis event under the Gateway Arch is expected to draw 1,000 participants.

For further information please contact Chad Sabora (in Missouri) at 314-717-3472, or Ed McCann (in Illinois) at 618-580-9802.