Giant heroin spoon left outside Massachusetts Statehouse in protest

The Associated Press

7 years ago

Mothers and relatives who lost loved ones to overdoses stand behind a metal sculpture of a burnt spoon, meant to symbolize opioid use, in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, in Boston. From left, Mary Peckham, Nancy Didick, Laurie Smith, Lynn Wencuf and Joan Smith. Organizers of The Spoon Movement said they planned to present the sculpture to state Attorney General Maura Healey to recognize her advocacy for leadership efforts in fighting the opioid scourge. (AP Photo/Bob Salsberg)

Domenic Esposito, left, of Westwood, Mass., pushes his 11-foot, 800-pound sculpture of a burnt spoon, meant to symbolize opioid use, back on to a truck after it briefly was displayed in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, in Boston. The Spoon Movement, which Esposito co-founded after watching his brother struggle with addiction, said it was gifting the sculpture to state Attorney General Maura Healy to recognize her advocacy for fighting addiction. (AP Photo/Bob Salsberg)

BOSTON — A giant heroin spoon sculpture that was placed outside a drugmaker’s Connecticut headquarters last summer to protest the opioid overdose crisis is now in Boston.

The nearly 11-foot-long (3-meter-long), 4-foot-high (1-meter-high) steel sculpture of a burned heroin spoon was briefly placed in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse steps Friday by Westwood-based sculptor Domenic Esposito and Connecticut gallery owner Fernando Alvarez.

But unlike June’s stunt when the 800-pound (363 kilograms) spoon was placed outside Purdue Pharma’s Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters as a protest, Esposito and Alvarez say the spoon was brought to Boston as a “gift” for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Esposito, whose brother has struggled with addiction, says Healey has been a strong advocate for people affected by the opioid crisis.

Purdue Pharma has denied allegations its marketing of the painkiller OxyContin contributed to the crisis.