Science – not more scaremongering – is what will prevent children from dying from fentanyl

In 2023, the number of people who died from drug overdoses decreased for the first time since 2018.

While drug deaths remain unacceptably high — more than 100,000 last year — at least we’re moving in the right direction.

But there is one segment of the population where death has increased the most: young people, young people and young people.

Research shows that an average of 22 Americans aged 14 to 18 will die from drug addiction each week by 2022.

Those researchers found hot spots — like Maricopa County, Ariz., and Los Angeles, Calif. — where youth overpayments are highest.

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

Our government has been trying to stop young people from using drugs for over a hundred years. These campaigns often include scare tactics that focus only on the effects of drug use.

But even though they can make good ads, such methods often fail when children are editing them.

But in the age of fentanyl, we must trade fear for an accurate and compassionate science-based drug education. Sadly, many countries fail to deliver.

Recently, I spoke with grieving parents and families who are fighting for strong and effective drug education and prevention. As someone in recovery for a long time, I can empathize. My drug education failed.

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

Instead, what we needed were practical tools and information that we could understand and compare.

Fortunately, there are proven ways to reduce the misuse of harmful substances. Take the Real (non-government) tobacco control policy that has been very successful targeting young people. It really worked because the campaign understood the way young people think.

The goal was to create a series of messages that never felt contrived, that never criticized or condemned smokers; that told the youth that Big Tobacco lied to them and ordered the youth to rebel against it.

Teens who saw the Truth ads reported that they were 66% more likely to say they would not smoke in the next year.

We need a National Truth campaign for fentanyl. And it must begin by understanding the nature of the problem we are now dealing with.

Many young people who die from fentanyl do so after taking synthetic pills.

These fake but deadly pills are compressed and made into popular drugs like oxycodone, Xanax and Adderall.

Many do not have a physical tolerance to strong synthetic opioids, so taking just one fake pill can be fatal.

This is the new reality of pill taking in America and it means we have to adapt to it.

The Drug Enforcement Administration wasn’t kidding when it launched the nationwide “One Pill Can Kill” campaign. The DEA slogan is short and memorable.

But I worry that young people are still not hearing the government’s message, even though “One Pill Can Kill” is technically true.

Just as the Truth ads understood that they were competing with Big Tobacco, the DEA’s message is competing with a culture that tells us all every day that there is a pill to fix something else and another – that pills are a quick and easy solution for what ails us. And this is a fact that is hard to undo.

To reach children with a message that really touches their emotions, we must also think locally. For example, The Wolfe Street Foundation’s program in Arkansas was the first statewide youth empowerment program for students in grades 7-12.

The program provides a peer role model, meaning that youth affected by drug use are also ambassadors for the program. Wolfe Street recognizes that peers are important in getting young people to hear the warnings about fentanyl.

Parents still have an important role to play, too. I encourage parents to visit the Ad Council, which provides advice to adults on how to talk to their children about fentanyl.

Experts like Dr. Scott Hadland, a pediatrician in charge of adolescent and young adult medicine at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says it’s important to be honest, empathetic and comfortable when talking to children about difficult and difficult issues like drugs.

Stanford’s medical school recommends that drug education for young people focus on three important pillars: First, the curriculum must be based on science.

Second, it must be engaging and interactive because that is how young people learn best. Finally, it must be compassionate. Drug education should take into account the fact that many young people will not try to use drugs at all. And that is good news.

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

We live in a culture that celebrates quick fixes and pills for every disease. That is why saving children from fentanyl will be an uphill battle that we must all fight together.

Ryan Hampton is a national advocate for addiction recovery and the author of the upcoming book “Fentanyl Community: Toxic Politics and America’s Failed War on Drugs” will be released by St. Martin’s Press on September 24.