Science will save children from death by fentanyl

In 2023, the number of drug overdose deaths decreased for the first time since 2018.

Although the number of drug-related deaths is still unacceptably high – last year there were more than 100,000 – at least we are finally moving in the right direction.

But in one segment of the population the number of deaths has increased significantly: among adolescents, teenagers and young people.

Studies show that in 2022, an average of 22 Americans between the ages of 14 and 18 died from a drug overdose each week.

The researchers identified hotspots – such as Maricopa County, Arizona, and Los Angeles, California – where the rate of overdoses among adolescents is highest.

Here, fake pills containing fentanyl are flooding the market. The pills are cheaper than ever and easily available through social media platforms popular with young people.

Our government has been trying to stop young people from using drugs for over a century. These campaigns have mostly been scaremongering, focusing exclusively on the consequences of drug use.

Even if they make for good commercials, such strategies usually fail because children no longer watch them.

But in the age of fentanyl, we need to replace scaremongering with accurate and compassionate drug education based on science. Unfortunately, many states are failing to meet these demands.

Recently, I have spoken with grieving parents and families fighting for robust and effective drug education and prevention. As a person in long-term rehabilitation, I can empathize. My own drug education was a failure.

Kids like me who grew up in the 1980s remember DARE officers coming into our classrooms and warning us about the dangers of drugs. It was the wrong message and the wrong messenger.

What we needed instead were practical tools and information that we could understand and identify with.

Fortunately, there are proven strategies to reduce the abuse of harmful substances. Take, for example, the highly successful (non-governmental) anti-tobacco initiative “Truth Initiative” aimed at young people. “Truth” worked because the campaign understood the way teenagers think.

The aim was to formulate a set of messages that never sound didactic, never judge or blame smokers; that tell young people that the tobacco industry has lied to them and then guide them to stand up against it.

Young people who have seen Truth's advertising are 66% more likely to not smoke in the coming year.

We need a national truth campaign on fentanyl. And it must start with understanding the nature of the problem we are currently facing.

Most young people who die from fentanyl do so after taking counterfeit pills.

These pills are fake but deadly. They are pressed and molded into popular drugs like Oxycodone, Xanax and Adderall.

Most people have no physiological tolerance to powerful synthetic opioids, so taking a single counterfeit pill can be fatal.

This is the new reality of pill-taking in America, and it means we must adapt.

The Drug Enforcement Administration meant business when it launched the nationwide campaign “One Pill Can Kill.” The DEA’s slogan is succinct and memorable.

But I worry that the government's message is still not getting through to young people, even if the statement 'one pill can kill' is technically true.

Just as the Truth ad knows it is competing with the tobacco industry, the DEA's message is competing with a culture that tells us all every day that there is a pill that will cure everything – that pills are a quick and easy solution to our ailments. And that reality is hard to change.

To reach children with a message that really resonates, we also need to think locally. The Wolfe Street Foundation's program in Arkansas, for example, was the state's first community-based youth rehabilitation program designed for students in grades 7-12.

The program uses a peer model, meaning that young people affected by drug use are also the ambassadors of the program. Wolfe Street recognizes that peers are crucial in getting young people to take the warnings about fentanyl seriously.

Parents also continue to play an important role. I encourage parents to contact the Ad Council, which provides advice to adults on how to talk to their children about fentanyl.

Experts like Dr. Scott Hadland, a pediatrician who specializes in adolescent and young adult issues at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, say it's crucial to be honest, compassionate and open when talking to kids about complicated and difficult topics like drugs.

Stanford University School of Medicine recommends that drug education for young people focus on three key pillars: First, the curriculum must be scientifically based.

Second, it needs to be engaging and interactive, because that's how young people learn best. And finally, it needs to be compassionate. Drug education should take into account the fact that most young people don't try substances at all. And that's good news.

But those who do try at some point are likely to struggle with other aspects of life, such as mental health, family stress, or physical or emotional pain.

We live in a culture that celebrates quick fixes and pills for every ailment, so protecting children from fentanyl will be an uphill battle that we must all fight together.

Ryan Hampton is a national advocate for addiction treatment and author of the forthcoming book,Fentanyl Nation: Toxic Politics and America's Failed War on Drugs” will be published September 24 by St. Martin's Press.