The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has launched a fentanyl awareness campaign: “No Cap…Those Pills Are Sus.” It's meant to reach young people with hipper language.
CMPD officials said this year there’s been a 20% increase in overdose deaths compared to the same time last year, and 60% of the deaths have been people who are under 40 years old. Charlotte is on track for close to 250 overdose deaths this year, police said.
The new campaign is aimed at youth and families by using slang terms like “no cap” and “sus” to help educate and provoke conversations about risks of fentanyl-laced drugs. CMPD will use social media images, the hashtag “#StreetPillsKill” and billboards going up in Charlotte.
Not frontin’ on this campaign, it is meant to stand out. #StreetPillsKill pic.twitter.com/HW9Su2Av2m
— CMPD News (@CMPD) November 9, 2023
For older folks — and parents — who might not understand the terms that were used CMPD Lieut. Kevin Pietrus explained the words on one image.
“'Sus' is a shortened word for suspicious,” Pietrus said. “There’s something going on with that. There's something not right, quite right with that. So no lie or this is the truth, those pills, talking about street pills, those purchased, not from a pharmacy not prescribed from a doctor are suspicious,” he said. “There's something wrong with those and we should stay away from them.”
Along with the messages, CMPD will also install drop boxes for people to dispose of drugs that are listed on the campaign website. They can do so anonymously.
This year CMPDs Vice Unit has seized nearly 75 pounds of suspected fentanyl, including a search of a suspected fentanyl lab that yielded $120,000 worth of possible fentanyl pills and a trio of electric pill presses.
You can find more information about the “No Cap…Those Pills Are Sus” campaign here.
