Halloween is just under four weeks away as is the longstanding tradition of trick-or-treating. This year, however, the Drug Enforcement Administration is keeping a close eye on the influx of “rainbow fentanyl” pills, and warning parents to do the same.
The bright-colored pills are believed to be intentionally deceptive, and the DEA believes that drug cartels are targeting children and young people by making the fentanyl look like candy.
250,000 of the rainbow pills have been seized at the Port of Nogales in Arizona alone since July, in addition to the millions of other fentanyl pills that have been seized from the Port of Nogales during the same time period, and cartels are attempting to traffic even more of the illicit drug into other parts of the country,
According to the DEA, two milligrams of fentanyl, equating to about “10-15 grains of table salt,” is considered lethal. The agency says that fentanyl is “the deadliest drug threat facing this country.”
This begs the question, should parents be worried that “rainbow fentanyl” pills will wind up in trick-or-treat bags?
Tanya Tilghman, a member of Mothers Against Drug Addiction & Deaths, said that it’s a good idea to keep an eye on what’s in their children’s trick-or-treat bags, and it’s more important to educate their kids on drugs such as fentanyl, in case they encounter them at parties.
“So let’s take, for example, teenagers. They go to parties. We all know that some of them do drugs, and they bring these drugs to party. So if you’ve got these pills floating around parties that look like candy, then people are going to take them. And they may not even know that they’re taking a deadly substance because that’s what they are. They’re deadly substances,” Tilghman said.
She believes that parents should be particularly vigilant on what their teens bring back.
“Let’s say you have a teenager and let’s say they’re out buying drugs, and they buy some fentanyl pills. They look like candy. They bring it home. They have a younger brother or sister. Parents have no idea about what’s going on. So you’ve got these little pills that have like Hello Kitties on them. And a little child sees that the teen leaves these pills out, maybe forgets to put them away. Their little brother or sister sees it. They think it’s candy. They take it, overdose and die. I think that’s pretty serious,” she added.
Joseph Palamar, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at New York University Langone Medical Center, said that “any psychoactive pill” in the hands of children is dangerous and deserves attention, but that fentanyl is particularly deadly. While he’s not convinced that producers of rainbow fentanyl aren’t specifically targeting children, he is worried that kids could come across them and think they’re candy.
However, Palamar thinks that the concern of “rainbow fentanyl” pills winding up in Halloween candy is “exaggerated.”
“I’ve always found this concern to be exaggerated. I’m sure this does happen sometimes, but it is unlikely. Even if fentanyl pills were only a few dollars each, most people would likely find them too expensive to give to kids on Halloween as a sick joke,” Palamar said.
What he finds more concerning is parents or siblings who use fentanyl and leave pills out, leaving the door open for kids to reach it. He says that parents should be talking to their children about drugs and explaining the dangers more often.
“Parents need to educate their children more about drugs in general, but this is difficult as most parents lack drug education in general. In fact, many seem to think marijuana is as dangerous as heroin,” Palamar said. “I think parents should at least show their kids some information — like a news article — and simply warn them that these dangerous pills may be going around. It’s unlikely for kids to come across these pills, but you never know.”
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