Fentanyl Awareness Billboard Placed in Salem
A new billboard on Commercial Street honors those who have died from fentanyl poisoning.
Updated on Oct. 9, 2026 in Substance Abuse
A billboard featuring the face of Brendon Bennett now stands on Commercial Street in Salem. It displays photographs of dozens of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl.
Why it matters
The display is part of an awareness campaign designed to highlight the dangers of fentanyl. It serves to educate the public on overdose prevention resources.
The billboard displays photographs of dozens of individuals who died from fentanyl. The exact count of people featured remains unverified.
The players
Brendon Bennett
He is an individual who died from fentanyl and is now featured on an awareness billboard.
Leona's Legacy of Love
This is a Missouri-based advocacy campaign that works to spread awareness about fentanyl dangers and prevention.
The details
The billboard, which features Brendon Bennett among others, is managed by Leona's Legacy of Love. This Missouri-based campaign uses these faces to personalize the impact of the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
Timeline
The billboard began displaying the face of Brendon Bennett in October 2026.
The Big Picture
The Salem billboard follows a pattern set by the national trend of using public visual memorials for fentanyl overdose awareness. This installation reflects a growing movement to personalize the statistics of the opioid crisis.
Residents in the area can view the billboard on Commercial Street as a reminder of the risks posed by fentanyl. The campaign aims to connect the public with essential overdose prevention resources available in the community.
The takeaway
Visual campaigns like this help to humanize the scale of the fentanyl crisis for the local community. Residents are encouraged to seek out verified prevention materials to better understand how to identify and respond to potential overdoses.
Further reading
For more information on local prevention efforts, see Substance Abuse.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Salem Reporter.
