Viele Teenager in den USA unterschätzen das tödliche Risiko von Fentanyl | Die einmalige Einnahme des synthetischen Opioids könnte tödlich sein, aber viele Jugendliche sind sich der Gefahr nicht bewusst, berichten Forscher in JAMA
Viele Teenager in den USA unterschätzen das tödliche Risiko von Fentanyl | Die einmalige Einnahme des synthetischen Opioids könnte tödlich sein, aber viele Jugendliche sind sich der Gefahr nicht bewusst, berichten Forscher in JAMA
18 Kommentare
Who are the parents of these teens that are either just clueless? Or reckless? Wake up, parents! It’s a job!
From the article:
>A majority of 8th-graders and roughly a third of 10th- and 12th-graders do not see a great risk with using fentanyl once or twice, [researchers report July 7 in JAMA Network Open.](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2851279) The data come from the 2025 results of the Monitoring the Future study, an annual, representative, long-term study of the behaviors and views of U.S. middle and high schoolers, including on drug and alcohol use.
From the linked report:
>Fentanyl is involved in at least 75% of adolescent overdose deaths, often because it is added into other drugs such as counterfeit pills.
The usual phrases that follow are:
* My kid was a *good* kid.
* We had no idea that my kid was experimenting with this.
* Why hasn’t somebody (else) done *something* to stop this before my kid died?
This is an important finding, and while the issue isn’t knowingly taking fentanyl (as the first question asks), it does speak to the vigilance level of kids. It’s terrifying.
Just to help contextualize further: fentanyl is a massive problem, and this article rightly raises an alarm. However, one of the under-appreciated problems is that fentanyl is not the only adulterating agent. On the depressant side, having xylazine, illicit benzodiazepines, or nitazines, mixed in with fentanyl makes treating overdoses way more complicated. This is a much larger problem now than even five years ago, and it’s getting worse pretty rapidly.
It feels like a middle finger. Naloxone becoming widely available was such a tremendous step in preventing opioid overdoses, so the universe saw fit to make sure that wasn’t enough.
EDIT – I should be more explicit as to why I mention the other adulterants: the risk is in a street drug supply that contains compounds you don’t know you’re taking. That’s why it’s so important that kids have an accurate risk assessment from adults. A 14-year-old taking an unprescribed Xanax is very worrying, but the real nightmare — and overwhelming likelihood — is that it’s not Xanax.
I am curious what they think about other drugs. I could see teens using that as the default response about a drug they don’t really know the effects of. Do they think it’s more or less dangerous than heroin? If they’re ranking them similarly then I think teens probably have filed them under „hard drug“ and not thought much more about it. A problem for drug education is that a lot of people exaggerate the danger of drugs which causes kids/teens to not trust the validity of the information they are getting. This is bad for hard drugs because the dangers are on their face pretty extreme and kids and tend assume that they are hearing similar exaggerations to anti smoking stuff.
I don’t know what folks are doing know, but when I was a kid in the 90’s the problem with anti-drug messaging was that they just exaggerated or flat out lied about certain things so when kids actually got around drugs and saw a more accurate picture they just threw the baby out with the bathwater on everything they had been told. „If they lied about X then they lied about Y“ etc.
No, they just don’t care because we’ve left them a destroyed planet.
Crazy, i remember at achool, every year or 2 a cop would come in with his bag full of drugs while we would leaen about what they are, and the side effects.
They lied about weed for decades and it was still schedule I, above Fentanyl, until VERY recently. Why would teens pay attention anymore?
If you’re gonna say “well the kids should really know better, weed and fentanyl aren’t nearly the same,” it’s our job as the adults to teach them. All we’ve taught them is that we’ll lie to them to keep them out of trouble, and then barely acknowledge that they were lies to begin with.
The solution is to build a community in which people don’t feel isolated and only valuable if a corporation can exploit their labor.
Study after study after study show addiction and drug abuse are primarily linked to isolation and lack of fulfilling social interaction.
It’s scary because kids can’t trust the information they are getting. You can carry Naloxone in your first aid kit. I do. I have a mask for CPR, the Naloxone, and tourniquet.
Are the kids doing fent now? I thought that was kind of end game stuff.
The survey questions ask about the perceived dangers of fentanyl, which is a regularly prescribed drug. They do not say „street fentanyl“ or „street drugs.“ And two of the three say „*use* fentanyl“ not „try fentanyl“ suggesting that medical use is included. The students are correct.
Are you really gonna trust a dealer to measure doses that small accurately? Stupidest drug ever to hit the street.
Because for years you’ve told them everything was lethal. Marijuana. Mushrooms. Then cigarettes. Crack. Oh turns out the CIA was in on the Crack… vaping is a safer alternative, oh wait we never said that! Covid will kill you, the vaccine will kill you, oh now you’re sick because you have no immune system because you wore a mask!
Work work work, but get enough sleep. Don’t think for yourself, or get a degree! The trades are AI proof! We need more working class! If you work enough overtime you too could afford a house; just drink this energy drink – oh wait no that will kill you too.
I’m not agreeing with it, but our health officials have cried wolf so mucb I’m not surprised.
Where are their parents? Parents need to be informed and truthful about the risks of substance use.
I’m not aware of a human being in america who isn’t aware of the dangers of fentanyl.
The reason the don’t believe you is because their parents were told by DARE that they could OD on weed. The trust has been broken. Same deal with convincing black people to get vaccinated after the Tuskegee experiment was made public.
It’s almost like outright lying and fear mongering for decades about drugs effects making them out to be way more deadly than was factually accurate might have led to a culture of kids not believing what authority figures say on the topic whatsoever. The war on drugs can own this one entirely