Contributed by Julie Bouchard
Let me introduce you to my amazing son, Taegge Lee, born in Palmer, Alaska on November 19,1999. Taegge attended various schools in the Mat-Su Borough and later went on to graduate from the Alaska Youth Military Academy.
Taegge loved to travel, exploring new countries and out of the way hidden gems. His latest adventure took him backpacking across Indonesia and Bali, by himself at the age of 20 years old. He loved art, poetry and music. He has many beautiful art pieces, as well as music he has written. His favorite Poet was Edgar Allen Poe. One of his favorite Poe quotes being “There is no beauty without some strangeness”.
Taegge had a unique fashion style! He loved putting crazy prints together and expressing his uniqueness through the many, shoes, vintage and odd fashion labels he had collected from various thrift shops around town. He had a signature brown button up sweater which his family dubbed his “Mr. Roger’s sweater”.
He was an adventurer, a loving son, compassionate brother, uncle, and a faithful friend to all who were blessed to know him.
You see, I am writing this with a mother’s broken heart, an article no mother should ever have to write! With tears in my eyes, I am writing to share his story in hopes that is spares just one family from this utterly devastating grief!
I lost my son Taegge on July 15,2021 to fentanyl poisoning; in other words, he was murdered! He had almost 4 times the lethal amount in his system, according to state toxicology reports. He went to bed and never woke up. We never got to say goodbye, never got one last hug or to tell him just how much he was loved. I was so proud of him! Taegge was not a “junkie”, he was working in Talkeetna, had his own cabin and was working on his next adventure for the winter. He was a productive member of society, he was not a thief, he had many friends and close relationships with family.
There is currently a police investigation open to see if they can find where he got this deadly drug. Illegal fentanyl is being brought into our country by the truck loads. Someone is getting rich off our grief. Recently a bad batch of drugs killed at least 7 young people in the valley over the last month or so and who knows how many others were affected. Our children matter! We want accountability and justice!
Fentanyl does not care about your neighborhood, family status, social status, gender, race or sexual orientation. Fentanyl, as well as other illegal street drugs have ZERO discrimination criteria. With that being said, over 110,000 young people have been murdered by fentanyl in the last 12 months across America. In the USA, every 7 minutes, another family gets the call that their son/daughter is gone! Alaska saw the largest increase at 253 deaths! Fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of deaths in young people today, more than car accidents, firearms or illness combined.
Alaska is now the second state that has drafted a Bill and submitted it to Congress to make education and resources mandatory in high schools and other public education facilities in Alaska. Please reference Bruce’s Law for more information on that Bill. Alaska Senator’s Murkowski & Sullivan are behind this law and have been big supporters.
Federal and state tax dollars are going to fight the covid pandemic but where is the help for our young people who are being murdered every day? Our young children need to be educated, not only on the dangers of using illegal street drugs but the ever-increasing counterfeit pills that are being sold on social media sites and readily available within minutes.
Please talk to your young children about these dangers! All children are at risk today, it only takes one pill to kill! Consider writing your local government officials and urging them to take this pandemic seriously and allocate money for education, prevention, and treatment. If you have a substance abuse problem, please get help! NARCAN kits are free through Project hope and MY House in Wasilla. Please consider having these life-saving kits on hand.
For the future of America, we must stop this senseless murder of our children!!!
Submitted with a broken heart,
Julie M. Bouchard, mother of Taegge D. Lee, forever 21.