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Traveling memorial documenting opioid crisis is in Albany

ALBANY (AP) — A traveling memorial putting a face on the nation’s opioid crisis is making a weeklong stop in Albany.

The memorial called “Prescribed to Death” features a wall constructed of 22,000 pills, each carved with a face to represent someone who fatally overdosed on a prescribed opioid. It’s displayed on the concourse level of the Empire State Plaza near the convention center.

The installation was launched in 2017 by the National Safety Council. It debuted in Chicago and has traveled to Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Atlanta, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Among those memorialized is Michael Israel of Buffalo, who took his life in 2011 after becoming addicted to opioids prescribed to treat Crohn’s Disease. His father runs the nonprofit “Save the Michaels of the World” to raise awareness of prescription drug misuse.

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