In September, two 15-year-old Los Angeles girls overdosed on fentanyl. A teenage girl at a Hollywood high school died, and another was hospitalized after taking what police believe were counterfeit pills filled with fentanyl.
The incident, which is being investigated as a homicide by Los Angeles police, comes as federal officials announced new national counts of overdose deaths, showing nearly 200 people in the US are dying each day due to overdoses of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
In recent years, opioid use among adolescents has increased. Research suggests that those at greatest risk for addiction often have outlying temperaments that can be visible as early as preschool — extreme recklessness, for example or severe anxiety. These differences may reflect a predisposition toward mental illness, which raises addiction risk. Another risk factor for addiction is the experience of childhood trauma, particularly early, repeated trauma, neglect, and loss.
With Fentanyl and other illegally manufactured synthetics, the danger associated with trying drugs is greater than ever. If these girls had each swallowed a single Percocet — what they thought they were buying — even the highest-dose pill is unlikely to have been fatal.
Street fentanyl and its derivatives, however, can be dozens to thousands of times stronger than the oxycodone in Percocet. Street synthetics are typically found in drugs sold as heroin or prescription pills, but they are sometimes present in party drugs like cocaine. This has exponentially increased the risk of even one or two youthful experiments.
But how can drug prevention programs get their attention?
One thing the parents can do is make them aware of the real risks. Teens are more likely to listen when they recognize they are being given accurate information about genuine dangers. There are also some videos that confront the dangerous new reality directly. They feature former drug dealers speaking plainly about fentanyl. They also provide information on how to reverse overdoses with the opioid antidote, naloxone.
Call 877-50-SOCIAL or 877-507-6242 for confidential support & treatment options if you or someone you know needs help. Visit www.socialmodel.com for more information.
