Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that kills young Americans more than ever before. Schoolchildren buy counterfeit drugs from Some without knowing they can contain lethal amounts of fentanyl.
22.4. 06:18 • Updated April 22nd. 07:08
LOS ANGELES Finnish-American Matthew Rautionmaa30, believes he lost a classmate to fentanyl poisoning last summer.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and a prescription drug prescribed to cancer and other severely ill patients with severe pain. It is also used in anesthesia. The drug is a hundred times stronger than morphine. Up to two milligrams of a substance can be killed.
Rautia studied business administration at the College in New York in 2009–2013 and became a roommate Johnin. His name has been changed due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The man who studied music was sociable and easy going. He got good grades even though he was hooked on drugs, mostly heroin.
– John was the first person to talk to me on campus. He was one of my best friends, Rautionmaa tells .
John continued to use heroin after his studies. He tried to get dry many times. He had just gotten out of severance treatment in Florida on the eve of last summer, but snapped as soon as the treatment ended.
Rautia suspects that one of the batches bought by his friend contained a lethal amount of fentanyl that had been mixed with the drug without John’s knowledge. John died in June 2021. His heart had stopped.
– I knew about his drug use, but the news of his death still came as a complete surprise. He never used fentanyl.
Rautionmaa says that the use of drugs, medicines and alcohol is common among students, but the College did not address it.
– None. Yes, there were a lot of drugs. In American College, you just want to celebrate and try everything, describes Rautia’s study culture.
A new step has been taken in the opioid epidemic
Fentanyl-stained drugs are cheaper, more addictive, and more dangerous.
Drug smugglers take advantage of the prescription drug abuse and opioid crisis that began in the 1990s with the help of marketing campaigns by drug companies.
A counterfeit oxycodone pill, mainly containing fentanyl, can be obtained for as little as a few dollars. Fentanyl takes immediate control of the brain. The brain requires a new dose every three hours.
The clientele is guaranteed, even if not everyone survives.
In the United States, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses between March 2020 and April 2021. Fentanyl was the cause of 64% of deaths and was the most common cause of death among 18- to 45-year-olds, according to CDC statistics.
Opioids containing fentanyl are killing younger and younger people
Illegal fentanyl flows into the United States from drug cartel laboratories in Mexico. Manufacturing the drug from raw materials ordered from China is inexpensive, fast, and profitable.
Counterfeit prescription drugs are often obtained from dealers through social media.
He was like any young person willing to experiment. He had bought strong opioids from Snapchat, but felt hooked after just a couple of weeks.
Amy Neville, mother of a 14-year-old boy
Young people think they are buying opioids, stimulants, sedatives or sleeping pills. Counterfeit pills are almost impossible to distinguish externally from official prescription drugs.
Amy Nevillen A 14-year-old boy Alexander died in June 2020 after taking one pill containing fentanyl without her knowledge.
– Alexander was like any young person willing to experiment. He had bought strong opioids from Snapchat, but felt hooked after just a couple of weeks, Neville tells in Los Angeles.
The boy told his parents that he wanted to get rid of his addiction. Neville immediately contacted the drug detention facility in Orange County, Southern California. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death among young people under the age of 17 in the county.
Alexander died the same day the discontinuation treatment was due to begin.
– He came home the night before at nine. That was the last time I saw him. I went to wake him in the morning, but Alexander was not breathing. He was quite blue, Neville recalls with tears in his eyes.
Laboratory tests revealed that the pill Alexander took contained so much fentanyl that it would have been enough to kill four people.
The heads of some companies on the plateau
The Alexander Neville Foundation, founded by Neville, staged a demonstration in front of the Snapchat headquarters in Santa Monica in January. The parents involved demanded concrete action from the social media company. Parents want the company to eradicate the illegal drug trade from its platform.
Dealers operating on Snapchat have been linked to numerous fentanyl deaths in 16 states.
– Until a year ago, the answer was that this is not a company priority, Neville laughs.
Following the demonstration, Snapchat gave an interview to NBC, where a company spokesman promised tougher measures, such as the use of artificial intelligence to stop drug trafficking on its platform. An outside party would also be hired to oversee the operation.
– Snapchat has been able to eradicate pedophiles from its platform, but not drug dealers. I think they’re only serious when I see the changes.
Neville believes parents should have access to discussions with their minor children in Some, to which Snapchat has not consented. The company has said the changes will take time.
– It’s about money, and it’s stained with the blood of our children.
Still calm in Finland
THL: n Drug situation in Finland 2020 (moving to another service) According to the report, 189 people died of drug poisoning in 2019. Opioids, mainly the replacement therapy buprenorphine, oxycodine, and methadone, accounted for 80 percent of poisoning deaths. They always included a sedative or alcohol that paralyzes the central nervous system.
The use of fentanyl is still rare in Finland. This is what the Youth Against Drugs (YAD) preventive drug work planner assures Iida Porkka by email.
Fentanyl is rarely seen in street photography, drug-related deaths, and is not found when added to other drugs or medications. Fentanyl caused only five deaths in 2019, according to a THL report.
Fentanyl and its derivatives have also been very rare in customs laboratory studies last year. Medical Director of A-Klinika Kaarlo Simojoki still calls for vigilance.
– The situation is calmer than in many other countries, but even here we have to be careful. The authorities, organizations and other actors are monitoring the situation with a sensitive ear so that we can then try to prevent the harm associated with fentanyl, Simojoki emphasizes to .
Story corrected 6.51: Milligrams corrected in the caption to replace the word gram in the sentence “Only a few milligrams of fentanyl can kill”