A grieving mother and physician-turned-advocate visited Brunswick to speak to parents and Upper School students about the hidden danger of fentanyl.

“It’s not an ‘out there’ problem,” Beth Weinstock, M.D. told parents gathered in Baker Theater. “It’s in your zip code. It’s in your community. It’s in the community next door.”

Weinstock lost her son to a fentanyl overdose in 2021; Eli Weinstock was a thriving sophomore at American University with good grades and a job lined up when he died. He was 20.

Six months after his death, Weinstock and her daughter founded BirdieLight, which is named after a childhood nickname, to educate on the danger of fentanyl and to distribute life-saving tools to prevent tragedy.

“This gift of information you can take to your families,” Weinstock said.

Weinstock told parents that fentanyl is the leading cause of preventable death for all Americans ages 18–45. In 2022–23, it was the cause of 112,000 fatalities.

“It’s unimaginable,” she said. “The fastest rising age range is 14–25.”

Weinstock’s visit served as the second installment of this year’s ’WICK Center Speaker Series, which brings leading health-and-wellness thinkers to campus.