One fake pill laced with fentanyl can kill. Across Rhode Island, and the nation, too many young adults are being poisoned by illicit fentanyl-laced counterfeit drugs, ranging from tablets that look like prescription drugs: oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and alprazolam (Xanax); or stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall).
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose. Without laboratory testing, there is no way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder.
To help warn Rhode Islanders about the increasing dangers of fentanyl-laced counterfeit drugs, and how they can access information needed to spot and avoid these lethal substances, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is joining with CODAC Behavioral Healthcare on Tuesday, August 29 at 12 noon at CODAC Newport to help amplify the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) One Pill Can Kill Fentanyl Awareness Campaign and help spread life-saving information on:
• Types of illicit drugs that law enforcement and health officials say most frequently contain synthetic opioids;
• Prevalence and trends of these substances in the illicit drug market;
• Federal action being taken to stop the influx of fentanyl from China and Mexico; and
• How to spot signs of use and addiction before it is too late.
Illicit opioid use is the number one cause of death of young adults in America. DEA lab testing reveals that six of every 10 fake prescription drugs contain more than a lethal dose of fentanyl than ever before.
Last year, the DEA seized more than 50.6 million fake prescription pills containing fentanyl, more than double the amount of fentanyl-containing pills seized in 2021. And data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that two-thirds of deaths from drug poisoning in 2021 involved synthetic opioid-like fentanyl.
Reed says parents need to understand how easy it is for young adults with a smartphone to get their hands on fentanyl-laced pills, and encourages parents to have open and honest communication with their children about what fentanyl is, why it is so dangerous, and how it is turning up in more and more illicit drugs.
Reed is also leading efforts at the federal level to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and get tougher on China over its role in producing fentanyl by including the FEND off Fentanyl Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
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