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.

Do You Know What A Pill Press Is?

Drug counterfeiters can acquire a pill press and a counterfeit pill mold to churn out counterfeit medications for less than $500. Unfortunately, “garage manufacturers” are not careful about manufacturing controls, and their products often contain fatal doses of fentanyl or other drugs. Since 2015, bootleg prescription drugs made with machines like these have killed unsuspecting Americans in 37 states.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines has more information about Pill Presses on their web site.

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