• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

An effort conceived and championed by President Trump aims to reduce the number of Americans killed by fentanyl, a highly potent and extremely dangerous synthetic opioid. 

“A multimillion-dollar campaign by a Trump-aligned group is running the ads in areas hit hard by the fentanyl epidemic — including West Virginia, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. — and is part of the White House's latest anti-drug push,” according to Axios. “Trump previewed final versions of the ads early this month and signaled his approval for ads by Make America Fentanyl Free.”

A person involved in the effort told Axios that Trump wanted the ads to be visceral, as opposed to a lower-key PSA.

“Trump credited a recent phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for the idea and thanked her for inspiring it,” according to Media Daily News. “Trump said the call was supposed to be about tariffs, but 'we talked about drugs,' and President Sheinbaum explained that Mexico actually has very little illegal drug use among its citizens and she attributed it to a long-running anti-drug advertising campaign viscerally showing the ravages of drug use on addicts.”

The campaign is featured on a new YouTube Channel, “Make America Fentanyl Free” which currently has 63 subscribers. So far it features a 60-second spot and a 30-second spot that focus on the gruesome death that can be caused by fentanyl. The ads have been viewed millions of times on YouTube since they were posted two weeks ago.

“Make American Fentanyl Free has also spent more than $2.6 million to run on the ads on cable outlets in areas hit hard by the fentanyl epidemic, including West Virginia; Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Michigan and Washington, D.C.,” according to The Daily Beast. “It’s not clear who is funding Make America Fentanyl Free, a ‘dark money’ non-profit whose donors are allowed to remain anonymous.”

Both ads end with the voiceover: "Join President Trump’s fight to end the fentanyl crisis.”

The effort also intends to "send a strong unequivocal message to Mexican drug cartels that actions leading to American deaths or harm will result in serious consequences,” according to Fox News Digital.. “Organizers say [the] privately funded ad blitz spans national TV and major social media platforms.”