Drug cartels duping young people to buy fentanyl-laced pills, experts say

Drug cartels duping young people to buy Fentanyl laced pills

The DEA says drug cartels are relentlessly going after young people on social media making it that much easier to buy and sell drugs.

SEATTLE - The DEA says drug cartels are relentlessly going after young people on social media, making it that much easier to buy and sell drugs.

Students think they are buying things like OxyContin and Percocets, but they are being duped with fentanyl-laced pills.

FOX 13 interviewed Dr. Paul Christo at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also the author of "A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain".

Dr. Christo says it is important to have frequent conversations with young teens and college students about the dangers. He says it takes a tiny amount of fentanyl to kill.

Dr. Christo says high schools and colleges should have fentanyl testing strips and Narcan available to curb deaths.

Fentanyl was initially made to be injected, but now it can be smoked, snorted and taken orally through a pill.

Mexican drug cartels are using ingredients shipped from China to mix a dangerous cocktail of chemicals.

One gram of fentanyl is around 50 times more powerful than heroin and up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

According to Families Against Fentanyl, it is now the leading cause of death among people 18 to 45 years old.