WASHINGTON, D.C. — Advocates and angel families who lost children to the opioid epidemic applauded news Monday that President Donald Trump had signed the SUPPORT Act, legislation that strengthens resources for Americans facing substance use disorders.
Trump signed the legislation into law on Monday afternoon, reauthorizing and revising programs within the Department of Health and Human Services addressing substance use disorders, overdoses, and mental health.
Sandy Snodgrass, the mother of a victim named Bruce, and co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers and Angel Army, said simply: “The SUPPORT Act and Bruce’s Law will simply save the lives of young Americans.”
Another bereaved father, Greg Swan, thanked the president for listening to the story of his grieving family, noting that Trump created the original SUPPORT Act back in 2018. Monday’s action renewed the law with the addition of “Bruce’s Law,” written by Snodgrass, he said.
“Now we are empowered and backed by the Support Act to go into all 26,727 reluctant USA High Schools and preach the dangers of fentanyl as a bereaved army, the Angel Army,” said Swan, who is co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers and Angel Army. “110,000 lives will be saved by youth alone – and you can double that by the number of bereaved parents who WILL NOT have to have an empty chair for their ‘Tiny Tim.’”
Drew Siegel, co-founder of Victoria’s Voice, said that his organization is “forever grateful” to Trump and his administration for “answering the prayers of millions of bereaved parents, siblings, friends, and families across our country.” Drew’s sister, Victoria, is also a victim of a drug overdose.
“This is for you, Victoria,” he said simply. “We love you, and we miss you every day.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an East Room event at the White House October 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted an event to mark the one-year anniversary of the administration’s declaration of combating the opioid crisis. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Robert Branner, co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers, described the legislation as “a lifeline for American families.”
“It is an Act designed to save lives, strengthen communities, and protect our children from a crisis that is touching every corner of this nation,” he argued. “I stand here as a Father who lost a daughter because she did not know the dangers of taking a pill that was not prescribed to her. She didn’t know it could be laced with fentanyl. She didn’t know one single pill could stop her heart. She didn’t know because she was never taught.”
Branner says the new law matters for all Americans, recognizing that “prevention is protection.”
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“It invests in education, awareness, treatment, and support,” he said. “It brings resources to schools, families, and communities so our children do not grow up uninformed, unprotected, and unaware. If my daughter had received the education that the SUPPORT Act encourages, if she had been taught early about the dangers of unprescribed opioids she might still be here today. And I know I am not alone. Families across this country have the same story, the same pain, the same loss.”
“The SUPPORT Act is an equalizer,” he said. “It doesn’t pick and choose which families to help. It reaches across race, class, background, and zip code because addiction and fentanyl do not discriminate. Education, prevention, and support should not either. … It saves lives. It strengthens families. And it gives our children the knowledge they need to survive in a world where one pill can take everything.”
