American teenagers and young adults—especially college students—used to be able to party and experiment with drugs and alcohol without necessarily risking their lives. Not anymore!
The drugs that kids encounter nowadays are much more powerful and in some cases deadly. The THC (delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol) levels in cannabis products have dramatically increased in the last few decades from less than one percent THC in the seventies to well beyond 15 percent in recent years. And that’s just marijuana plants—concentrates can reach much higher levels of THC.
A much deadlier enemy is fentanyl, though. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. The potency and contents of illicit drugs, including fentanyl are always changing. This makes it nearly impossible for someone to know the strength or the mixture of substances in their drug product.
“There is no more safe experimentation,” warned Blanchard founder and CEO Ward Blanchard in a recent online presentation. The reason is primarily fentanyl.
The Washington State Department of Health reported in June that “Nationally, drug overdose deaths increased among people ages 14-18 by 109 percent from July- December 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Approximately 90 percent of these deaths involved opioids. This age group is typically exposed through intentional experimentation with substances. Two-thirds of adolescent overdose deaths occurred in the youth’s home. Often there is another person there who didn’t know the youth was using opioids.”
Frequently, the person using it doesn’t know, either. As NPR’s Lynn Arditi recently reported, “The mix of stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamines with fentanyl […] is driving what experts call the opioid epidemic’s ‘fourth wave.’ The mixture presents powerful challenges to efforts to reduce overdoses because many users of stimulants don’t know they are at risk of ingesting opioids and so don’t take overdose precautions.”
The danger of an opioid overdose is now so widespread in America that people are encouraged to bring naloxone (Narcan) to their parties. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. The drug can be administered via nasal spray, attaches to opioid receptors in the brain, and thus blocks the effects of opioids such as heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.
By 2021, illicit stimulants mixed with fentanyl were the most common drugs found in fentanyl-related overdoses in every US state, according to a study published in 2023 in the scientific journal Addiction. “The rise of deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine must be understood in the context of a drug market dominated by illicit fentanyls, which have made polysubstance use more sought-after and commonplace.”
“The stimulant in the fatal mixture tends to be cocaine in the Northeast, and methamphetamine in the West and much of the Midwest and South,” explained NPR.
ABC News reported about a University of California study last year that showed that “the percentage of overdose deaths from fentanyl combined with stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine increased 50-fold between 2010 and 2021.”
Fentanyl dealers disguise their deadly products as harmless vitamin pills or make them look like Percocets (a combination of the opioid oxycodone with paracetamol) or similar less dangerous medications. Blanchard recently talked with the parents of a 17-year-old son who died after drinking just one beer at a high school party, not knowing someone had added a counterfeit Xanax containing fentanyl to his drink. Vapes with fentanyl passed around at a party—“that’s how the world is right now,” said Blanchard.
An opioid use disorder or addiction to opioids is a serious condition, requiring professional treatment. The Blanchard Institute uses a comprehensive, dual-diagnosis approach to diagnose and treat substance use disorders, including opioid addiction, using a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy, medication management, group therapy sessions, and family therapy sessions.
Our admissions process is discrete, confidential, and non-invasive. Call us at (704) 368-0776—our experienced admissions specialists will guide you through the process and treat you with the dignity and compassion you deserve.