Back to School time, start your education about deadly fentanyl pills

Playbl Newsletter | August 2024

🖐️ Welcome to this month’s Playbl Newsletter, where we provide research-based content to educators and clinicians to support their behavioral health work with youth. This month’s edition focuses on fentanyl, an opioid responsible for a dramatic increase in overdose deaths in teens between 15-19 years old.

The facts:

Fentanyl is an opioid frequently prescribed to reduce pain which can have a euphoric effect in high doses. Its widespread presence in the drug-supply has led to a dramatic increase in overdose deaths. As a teacher, understanding the risks associated with fentanyl is crucial for student safety. Fentanyl is involved in 84% of drug-related fatalities for people between the ages of 15 and 19.¹ Fentanyl fatalities among children are rising faster than any other age group according to a report “The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths” with a 275% increase in the 5 to 14 year olds.²

The number of individual pills containing illicit fentanyl seized by law enforcement increased dramatically between 2017 and 2023³. Remember, this number reflects the number of pills seized – not the number of pills out in the illicit drug market.

Youth have questions, here are some answers

If fake pills kill the customer, why would someone sell them?
Drug dealers have no regard for the safety of their customers, frequently prioritizing profit over everything else. Fentanyl is a man-made product which can be produced quickly with its availability only limited by the supply of the precursor chemicals. It’s also very potent, highly addictive, and a small amount can kill. Because fentanyl is so potent and cheap to produce, a tiny amount can achieve the same effect, increasing dealers profit margins and building more customers.

How do they get away with it?

The illegal drug market is unregulated making it difficult to control the production and distribution of these pills.

Why would kids take them?

Many young people are influenced by peers or false information about the safety of these drugs. Fake pills are often disguised as prescription medications, making them seem safer and more appealing. The desire to experiment or try something new can be a strong motivator coupled with the ease of purchasing pills online or through social media making them readily available.

Can’t you just tell the pills apart?

It’s impossible to tell fake pills from real ones. Take a look at some of these images from the Drug Enforcement Agency

How to respond in the event of an overdose:

Step 1: Check for a response and for signs of an opioid overdose including:

Step 2: Call 911 immediately. If possible, have someone else call while you administer naloxone.

Step 3: Give Naloxone, a medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose. Sometimes additional doses of naloxone are needed. It can take up to 2 minutes for naloxone to take effect. Best practice is to administer the first dose, wait 2 minutes, then you can administer additional doses.

Step 4: Administer rescue breaths to ensure the person is breathing.

Step 5: Once breathing resumes, turn the person into the recovery position

Step 6: Stay with the Person Until EMS Arrives

It’s important to explain to youth that Good Samaritan laws protect people who help someone who is overdosing. They say that if you call 911 for someone who is overdosing, you won’t get in trouble with the police even if there are drugs around. Every state has different laws, so it’s a good idea to check the specific laws in your area. But, in general, Good Samaritan laws are there to help people help others.

If you would like a full classroom lesson plan about Fentanyl – Natural High, a national nonprofit has created a free Fentanyl Toolkit which includes two lessons to start the conversation. Sign-up to receive them HERE. If you would like to learn about Playbl’s playSMART video game intervention targeting opioid misuse prevention in high school students, click HERE.

References:

1https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7150a2.htm

²https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61f366b9dd05336e4a3ce776/t/63c02c5aa154c362f875c084/1673538650397/FAF_Age+%26+Intentionality_Factsheet_Final.pdf

³https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2024/05/over-115-million-pills-containing-illicit-fentanyl-seized-by-law-enforcement-in-2023

⁴https://eiph.id.gov/healthy-living/drug-alcohol-prevention/drug-overdose-prevention/how-to-recognize-an-opioid-overdose/

About Playbl

Playbl is a mission-driven organization focused on improving adolescent behavioral health. As a partner to the play2PREVENT Lab, we leverage the power of evidence-based video games to improve health outcomes for youth aged 10-20. Game topics include smoking & vaping, opioid misuse, mental health, and sexual health.

Click here to learn more about our games and find out how to bring them to your organization.

If you would like to learn more about building a school environment to decrease all substance misuse and addiction, reach out to the team at Playbl about our professional development courses for educators and administrators.