The Postal Service dedicated the Drug Free USA stamp during a ceremony this week at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Arlington, VA.
“It’s our hope that the Drug Free USA stamp will help publicize the dangers of illicit drug use and to promote drug abuse prevention,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“Millions of Americans have had their lives hijacked by the impact of addiction. Families are destroyed and communities are disrupted. We can measure the cost to society in the billions, but we cannot measure the grief and the despair. To fully address this problem requires a unified effort at every level of the community, and with this stamp, the Postal Service is proud to join the Drug Enforcement Administration and many other federal, state and local partners’ commitment to a drug-free USA.”
The Oct. 27 ceremony took place during Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s oldest and largest drug abuse prevention awareness program.
The annual commemoration began in 1988 to honor Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a DEA special agent who was tortured and murdered three years earlier by drug traffickers he was investigating in Mexico.
The Forever stamp, which is available at Post Offices and usps.com, features a white star with lines of red, light blue and blue radiating from one side of each of the star’s five points, suggesting the unity necessary at all levels to effectively address drug abuse.
“With this powerful image and message, the U.S. Postal Service has given us another means to promote the battle against drug abuse,” said Timothy J. Shea, the DEA’s acting administrator. “In America alone, 70,000 lives are lost to drug overdoses every year, with countless others impacted by the actions of violent drug traffickers and the scourge of illegal drug use. We urge the public to engage in this fight against illegal drug use and to use the Drug Free USA stamp to signify their support for safer, drug-free communities.”
Other speakers at the ceremony included Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale; Peggy Sapp, president of the National Family Partnership, the group that organizes Red Ribbon Week; and Camille Schrier, Miss America 2020.
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