One in three Oregon teens don't know that fentanyl is being mixed with prescription drugs to create deadly fake drugs, according to recently released data.
Meanwhile, just under half of Oregon teens and young adults believe they are generally knowledgeable about fentanyl.
This new data, provided by the national nonprofit Song for Charlie, sheds new light on the public's understanding of deadly opioids across the state. The organization is named after Charlie Ternan, a 22-year-old man who died in California in 2020 after taking counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl.
The organization recently expanded its online resource guide to an Oregon version aimed at facilitating conversations among families.
“We need to bring these conversations into the home. It needs to happen at the kitchen table,” said Beaver, who spearheaded the effort after her son Cal died in 2020 after taking fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills. said Jennifer Epstein, the resident's mother.
Read it: data
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, the U.S. Attorney's Office says in a sentencing memorandum in the case of a 15-year-old Salem boy who fatally overdosed on pills mixed with purchased pills. mentioned in. Pills containing fentanyl and stamped with “M30” are increasingly being sold as counterfeit prescription drugs.
But as the presence of fentanyl in Oregon has spiraled out of control in recent years, new data shows a disconnect in conversations between parents and children about fentanyl.
The study surveyed 600 parents, 452 young adults and 300 teens in Oregon.
About three in four parents reported that they had talked to their children about the risks of using prescription drugs. However, only two in five teens and young adults remember having such conversations with their parents.
Epstein said this shows the message isn't always getting through to teens and young adults. Song for Charlie's website, “The New Drug Talk,” provides local resources, as well as information for families about fentanyl, experimental or self-medicating drug use, and advice for having effective conversations about drugs. The purpose is that.
The Oregon Legislature recently passed SB 238, a bill that will require schools to teach about fentanyl starting this fall. But The New Drug Talk focuses on educating parents on how to prevent tragedies.
Read it: Help for parents
Epstein said his son's death made him realize how outdated his knowledge was.
“When we lost Cal, we didn't know anything about fentanyl,” she said. “We took both of our kids to high school drug talks where they talked about marijuana, prescription drugs, cocaine, heroin, and the risks of all of that. But fake drugs made with fentanyl There was no talk of pills or fentanyl.”
Epstein said the rapid rise in fentanyl is making such conversations difficult for parents.
“Not all parents understand that the drug landscape has changed dramatically from when we were kids,” she says. “We don't have examples, we don't have role models to look back at and say, 'This is how you talk about drugs,' so it's an uncomfortable topic for parents.”
Fentanyl is the most common synthetic painkiller, but it's the only one, according to Mark Stewart, a Willamette University psychology professor who teaches courses on the drug and serves on the advisory board of The New Drug Talk. It is not a painkiller. Hearing about other deadly opioids like carfentanil, sufentanil, and xylazine can be overwhelming for parents who are just beginning to understand fentanyl.
“I think it can also turn some people off or make them feel a little less good,” he said. “Those of us who are raising kids don't want to go into a conversation with our kids feeling like we don't have all the facts.”
Stewart said he sees the apparent disconnect between parents and children as an opportunity to raise awareness.
“They are being sold poison,” he said of young people. “That's not for me to come in and judge or say drug use is poison. I'm saying they're getting contaminated pills and people are dying as a result. .”
One approach Epstein recommended for parents is to have ongoing conversations with their children about what they're learning about fentanyl.
“Instead of giving a lecture, it might be a good idea to have a conversation between parents and children so they can learn together,” she says.
She also advised parents to help their children practice refusing drugs if they are offered them, and to regularly check on their children's mental health.
Her son made the wrong choice to take what he thought was oxycodone, but an internet search revealed he was researching safe ways to take the drug, she said. Told. She believes that if Cal had known more about fentanyl, its dangers, and how often it was mixed into pills, she never would have gotten it.
Approximately one-third of Oregon teens and young adults have become addicted to fentanyl in counterfeit pills or personally know someone who has overdosed on a prescription drug, according to the data.
Still, only three in five teens and young adults in the state believe prescription drug misuse is a “very serious problem,” the data showed.
According to a July 2023 Salem Police Department affidavit, the estimated lethal dose of fentanyl is approximately 2 milligrams.
The Oregon Health Authority recorded 1,049 unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2023, according to data released April 25. Those numbers could still change as authorities await toxicology reports.
Stewart said there are challenges in quantifying how many people are overdosing on fentanyl in Salem and elsewhere.
People who have overdosed and are revived in hospital are not required to provide a urine sample Existing hospital data on overdoses is difficult to access. In cases of deaths, coroner investigations have stalled since the pandemic and can take months.
Stewart said the number of local fentanyl overdoses is being underestimated because of these issues.
Most young people in Oregon don't know where to get Naxolone (better known by the brand name Narcan) to reverse an overdose. Data shows that two in five people don't know how to use it, and almost half don't recognize the signs of overdosing.
Epstein said he is never allowed to take unprescribed drugs, but through the work he did after his son's death, he realized that generations of young people had escaped drug experimentation.
“His behavior wasn't necessarily typical for a teenager, but he just grew up in an era where that doesn't happen anymore,” she said.
Three out of four teens and more than half of young adults reported that they were less likely to take pills without a prescription after learning about the dangers of counterfeit fentanyl pills, according to the data.
Epstein said that gives her hope. “This study shows that these conversations can actually change behavior in young people in ways that save lives,” she said.
Most teens surveyed reported that their parents and doctors were their preferred sources of information about fentanyl and placebos.
“The more conversations parents can have, the more that information can be used by health care providers to have conversations with patients and their families, which will help enhance the education provided in schools,” Epstein said. said. “The more opportunities young people have to hear this, the safer our communities will be.”
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has been covering criminal justice and housing issues for the Salem Reporter since September 2021. An Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism spans the state. He has reported for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.