I wish I could give everyone access to this article, which describes high-achieving young adults in NYC who all died, unintentionally, from fentanyl-laced cocaine. But there’s a paywall.
Fentanyl is being added to all sorts of recreational drugs - marijuana, cocaine, meth. We need to talk frankly with our children about this. Many people, from middle school through young adulthood, will experiment with recreational drugs. Fentanyl can be in any of them, including counterfeit prescription pills, and it only takes once.
The recreational drug landscape has changed since we were young. Warn your children.
Thank you for sharing this. I was just reading about a presentation at my D’s college on this frightening trend. I wasn’t aware this had become such a widespread problem and was unaware fentanyl is also being added to prescription to pills.
Yes, we need to speak openly with our kids about this. There are heartbreaking stories.
The presentation was led by Dr. Beth Weinstock, who lost her son in 2021 to unintentional fentanyl ingestion. Her organization, Birdielight, works to educate young people on this risk.