Connect to Protect - A Conversation About Fentanyl
As a health professional concerned about improving community health outcomes, I have noticed that the “dangers of fentanyl message” is not resonating with parents. Finding better ways to arm parents with the knowledge of why fentanyl is a direct risk to their children is imperative.
If you grew up in the 1980s, the one drug commercial you may remember is “This is your brain on drugs.”1 When the image of the egg and the frying pan comes to mind, we all chuckle and reminisce, recalling a simpler time when we were kids.
We need a commercial like that again. This time, it would be about illegal fentanyl and other opioids. But this so-called commercial would not be like the headlines we numbingly see: “Fentanyl kills.” Instead, it would be about the nuance of the issue, driving the message home that there is a need to understand the severity of the problem. Something along the lines of:
Even if you think your kid will never get mixed up with illegal fentanyl, it’s time to sit down and have a lifesaving conversation with them. Teach your loved ones that if they ever use street drugs, there is a risk of fentanyl exposure and poisoning, leading to an overdose. It only takes a grain of rice (2 mg) of fentanyl to experience an overdose or even death.2,
It's a pretty simple conversation. The question is, even if someone created this new powerful commercial, could it overcome the noise of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and Xbox?
Parents, we are missing an opportunity to reinforce this message at home. By understanding the risks of fentanyl, you will have more meaningful conversations with your teens to protect their lives.
Anecdotally, when I ask parents about their fentanyl knowledge, the answers range from a vague and general awareness of the headlines to phrases like “Everyone I know has Narcan in their house.” Given that most parents' understanding of fentanyl lies somewhere in the middle, education is key.
These family conversations are delicate, but it has never been more important to create an open dialogue about difficult topics. This conversation will allow you to learn what your children know while creating a place to teach additional information. To get your children talking, start with questions like, “What have you learned about fentanyl in school?” or “Did you see that article?” Revisiting these topics with your children over time is also beneficial.
When it comes to our children, we never stop worrying. Have a conversation about fentanyl today. It might just save a life.
If you want to go deeper:
Below are some talking points about fentanyl. Take the time to speak with your teenagers and college students:
Fentanyl is an opioid drug used to treat pain. There are legal and illegal forms of fentanyl.3 Illegal fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, which is commonly used to ease pain in end-of-life care.4
Most illegal street drugs contain fentanyl. It only takes a tiny amount of fentanyl, the size of a grain of rice (2mg), to cause an opioid overdose or even death.5
Why would fentanyl be included in other street drugs? According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, and more addictive. In other words, it makes the high higher and increases dependency. It keeps a person coming back for more. 6
The days of experimenting with drugs are over. It has never been more important to know where drugs come from.
The internet, social media, and the mail have made deadly street drugs more accessible than ever. 24-hour disappearing stories on social media, emojis dedicated to the sale of fake pills laced with fentanyl, direct messaging, encrypted communication like WhatsApp, and one-click payment apps like Venmo all play a role in illegal drug distribution.7
No one is precisely measuring how much fentanyl is in each drug. There is no official quality control for illegal drugs, such as fake pills or cocaine. Therefore, some doses could be deadly.8
Fake pills containing fentanyl are made to look like OxyContin®, Xanax®, Adderall®, and other pharmaceuticals.9
Yes, there is some good news to counter this terrible news! Narcan/naloxone is a life-saving drug that can reverse the effects of fentanyl and other opioid overdoses. By spraying Narcan up the nose, it has the chance to reverse an overdose within minutes.10
Consider Narcan in the same way you consider EpiPens or asthma inhalers, life-saving drugs needed to reverse acute, life-threatening events.11
One crucial point to understand is that some illegal opioids are so potent that it may take multiple doses of Narcan to counteract the amount of the opioid drug in a person’s system. Calling 911 is critical as soon as you are concerned about an overdose.12
Besides always calling 911 first, getting trained in Narcan will provide a deeper understanding of opioids, how to recognize an overdose, and the steps of how to administer Narcan to save a life.
.png)
Endnotes
1. Chlochella. (2008, November 20). Partnership for a Drug-Free America: This is Your Brain (Original 1987 PSA) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5IT_5nlnWo
2. Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.). Dea.gov. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl
3. Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.). Dea.gov. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl
4. The Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.) Cdc.gov Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-resources/pdf/CDC_Fentanyl-Fact-Sheet_General_508.pdf
5. Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.). Dea.gov. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl
6. The Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.) Cdc.gov Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-resources/pdf/CDC_Fentanyl-Fact-Sheet_General_508.pdf
7. Social Media Drug Trafficking Threat. (2022, Jan), Dea.gov.
8. Facts About Fentanyl. (n.d.). Dea.gov. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl
9. What Every Parent and Caregiver Needs to Know About FAKE PIL LS.(2022, Nov.) Dea.gov. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/DEA-OPCK_Parent%20flyer_V2.pdf
10. 5 things to know about naloxone. (2024, May 2). Overdose Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/reversing-overdose/about-naloxone.html#:~:text=naloxone%20quickly%20reverses%20an%20overdose,a%20result%20of%20opioid%20overdose.
11. Lifesaving naloxone. (n.d.). Stop Overdose. https://www.cdc.gov/stop-overdose/caring/naloxone.html
12. naloxone DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2024, February 12). National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone.png)
Comments
Post a Comment