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Fentanyl Resources -- Parents, Read Up!
Have you talked to your teen and young adult about fentanyl? We know how uncomfortable it can be, however we highly invite you to "drop the f-bomb."
A new campaign from the Ad Council and Meta Platforms Inc. is encouraging parents of teen and young-adult children to speak to them about the dangers of fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is becoming more prevalent, overdose deaths are becoming more prevalent, and kids and parents don’t have the information,” said Michelle Hillman, chief campaign development officer at the Ad Council. People ages 13 to 24 often cite stress and anxiety as common reasons to misuse prescription medicines, but many aren’t familiar with the risk of fentanyl being added to counterfeit pills.
The campaign is partly designed to help parents overcome any reluctance they might have about discussing substance use with kids. The campaign encourages parents to visit a site called dropthefbomb.com, which includes facts about fentanyl, tips for having conversations and instructions on using naloxone (NARCAN), a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
We are here if you would like support, guidance, and factual information to share with your kids.
Fentanyl Facts
Fentanyl is being integrated into almost all forms of street drugs. In some cases dealers purposely add fentanyl to their drugs to reduce costs, enhance the effect of an existing drug, hook their customers, or all three. Remember, it’s a business and it’s all about making as much money as possible. In some cases, the presence of fentanyl is the result of contamination from traffickers handling multiple drugs in unclean environments or mixing several different powders with the same equipment.
Widespread Fentanyl Contamination:
Fentanyl has been widely detected in all of the street drugs listed below:
Fake Pills, including but not limited to:
Percocet
Oxycontin
Norco
Xanax
Vicodin
Valuim
Other:
Drugs to Watch:
Fentanyl in Marijuana: There are reports of fentanyl powder being detected in marijuana, but these are difficult to confirm and there is no evidence that this is currently a widespread practice. In most cases the most likely cause is accidental contamination. We have not identified any instances of people dying from fentanyl poisoning after smoking marijuana. Toxicology experts maintain that dying from smoking fentanyl laced marijuana is highly unlikely, given that fentanyl ignites and burns off at a much lower temperature than the marijuana flower. This is why fentanyl is sometimes “smoked” by heating fentanyl powder on foil and inhaling the vapor.
Fentanyl in Vape Cartridges: There are reports of vape cartridges being filled with fentanyl, but these are not widespread. We have not identified any instances of people dying from fentanyl poisoning after vaping fentanyl using a vape cartridge. Some people argue that vaping fentanyl is not possible because the fentanyl is destroyed before it reaches the temperature when it becomes a vapor. We do not believe this is true. A research article entitled Fentanyl vapor self-administration model in mice to study opioid addiction describes research that shows where ”mice readily self-administered fentanyl vapor, titrated their drug intake, and exhibited addiction-like behaviors, including escalation of drug intake, somatic signs of withdrawal, drug intake despite punishment, and reinstatement of drug seeking.”
