Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid. It is similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent. It is a prescription drug, but it is also made and sold illegally.
Why Fentanyl Is So Dangerous
Because it is cheap and strong, illegally made fentanyl is often mixed into other drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine, or pressed into fake pills made to look like prescription medications. People often don’t know fentanyl is in what they’re taking, and you can’t tell just by looking.
Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths in the United States. Teen drug use has not gone up, but the drug supply has become far more dangerous: overdose deaths among teens ages 15 to 19 more than doubled from 2019 to 2021.
Fentanyl Is Addictive
Like other opioids, repeated use of fentanyl changes how the brain works, which can cause people to keep using it even when it is harming them.
Naloxone Can Reverse a Fentanyl Overdose
Naloxone (Narcan) can reverse an opioid overdose, including one involving fentanyl, if it is given in time. More than one dose may be needed when fentanyl is involved. In Maine, you can find free naloxone and training at GetMaineNaloxone.org, and naloxone is sold over the counter at most pharmacies.
Talking With Your Teen
Make sure your teen knows that any pill that didn’t come from a pharmacy or wasn’t prescribed to them could contain fentanyl, even if it looks real. Keep the conversation open and honest, and let them know they can always call you for help.
Information from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (nida.nih.gov) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov).
