Monday number: A closer look at the mounting toll of fentanyl on the nationโ€™s youth

Last year, Policy Watch delved into the epidemic within the opioid epidemic:ย the terrifying rise of synthetic opioid fentanylย and staggering number of deaths it has caused in North Carolina and across the country.

This month a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data by the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl sheds new light on the ongoing crisis, particularly deaths among children 14 and under.

The groupโ€™s analysis found fentanyl deaths among that group are rising faster than any other, tripling nationwide in just two years from 2019 to 2021 (the last year for which full CDC data is available). Over the same period, fentanyl deaths among infants increased twice as fast as overall deaths.

Read the full article on NC Policy Watch.

Local activist appears at Raleigh anti-fentanyl event

Jan. 23โ€”RALEIGH โ€” A number of activists from across the country met in Raleigh on Saturday for an event meant to raise awareness of fentanyl, including Oxford’s Patricia Drewes.

“Children are going to experiment [with drugs], but they should not have to pay for that experiment with their lives,” Drewes said. “And that’s what is happening. That’s what is happening in this country … Our children are being murdered, and poisoned in broad open daylight on American soil. And something has to be done.

Read the full article on the Henderson Dispatch web site (subscription required) or on Yahoo News.

FBI probes Snapchatโ€™s role in fentanyl poisoning deaths

Federal agencies are questioningย Snapchatโ€™s role in the spread and sale ofย fentanyl-laced pills in the United States as part of a broader investigation into the deadly counterfeit drug crisis.

FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys are zeroing in on fentanyl poisoning cases in which the sales were arranged to young buyers via Snapchat, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and requested anonymity. The agents have interviewed parents of children who died and are working to access their social media accounts to trace the suppliers of the lethal drugs, according to the people.

Read the full article on the LA Times web site.

Triangle families ask for more to protect lives from Fentanyl

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) โ€” Mitchico Duff described her daughter as kind and loving. Two years ago, Duff said she tragically lost her daughter, 22-year-old Machiko Laโ€™deja Duff, from fentanyl.

โ€œI donโ€™t want another mom to feel the way I feel, this is a nightmare, this is tortureโ€ฆโ€ said Duff while attending a fentanyl awareness event Saturday near Downtown Raleigh.

โ€œIt took us a year to really find out what happened,โ€ the Johnston County mother added. โ€œWe knew it was drugs involved but we didnโ€™t know to the extent of what.โ€

Read the full story on the WNCN CBS17 web site.

Parents, here are tips to save your teens from fentanyl

Pediatricians like me arenโ€™t used to our patients dying. Most children and teens are healthy and thrive, and although some might experiment with drugs, teen overdoses are relatively uncommon. A rising threat, however, is forcing all of us โ€“ especially parents โ€“ to grapple with a new reality.

Scott Hadland

Scott Hadland

Just-released dataย from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2021 more teens than ever before died of overdoses, driven by increasingly potent and dangerous drugs. Overdoses are now theย third leading cause of deathย in US children under age 20,ย killing more than 1,100 teensย each year โ€“ the equivalent of a school classroom every week.

Read the full article and watch the video on CNN.com.

What congress can do about illicit fentanyl

Photos of Americans who died from a fentanyl overdose are displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on July 13, 2022. (Photo by Agnes Bun/AFP via Getty Images)

On Jan. 3, a new U.S. Congress will be sworn into office for the 118th time in our nationโ€™s history. Sadly, for the first time ever, these new and returning legislators will assume office under the dark milestone ofย more than 100,000ย drug-related deaths in the past year โ€” an all-time high. Congress can and must act quickly at the national level to turn this deadly tide.ย 

With drug-related fatalities at an all-time high and likely going higher, itโ€™s clear that the status quo isnโ€™t working. New policy approaches matched with recent innovations in treatment are necessary to overcome the stratospheric overdose rate.ย 

Read the full article on The Hill web site or download article PDF.

Narcan kits installed in high schools to fight teen overdoses

A growing number of schools are installing kits stocked with naloxone, also known as Narcan, amid an alarming surge in teen overdoses. NBC Newsโ€™ Morgan Radford reports from Camden County, New Jersey, to learn about one districtโ€™s plan to protect students as dangerous fentanyl becomes more prevalent.

View the original NBC News story on YouTube or the article and video on WRAL.com.

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