The DEA reports counterfeit pills have more than doubled from 2021-2022. The department has seized more than 50 million fake pills often laced with fentanyl.

Fake drugs look real. They may have no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient or the incorrect quantity of the active ingredient. The counterfeit pills can contain lethal amounts of opioids and methamphetamine.

These pills are extremely dangerous; they often appear identical to the legitimate prescription pills, and the user is unaware of how lethal they can be.

The DEA has reported a disturbing increase in the number of fake pills that contain at least 2mg of fentanyl which can be a lethal dose.

The majority of counterfeit drug are produced outside of the United States, in China, Mexico and India. Drug traffickers operate inside the United States with pre-made chemicals and drugs from China and Mexico. They are usually produced in substandard condition, labeled incorrectly, and may contain dangerous unapproved substances. There are no quality control mechanisms in the illicit labs producing the counterfeit pills.

Significant number of high school and college students purchase Adderall and Xanax from the dark web markets.

Some students have been using prescription stimulants, often referred to as “study drugs,” in the belief it will benefit their academic performance, but the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants has not been proven to improve academic performance.

NY college freshman, 19, dies after taking just one Percocet — which was really fentanyl

NEW YORK POST

By

Patrick Reilly

Published June 11, 2024, 5:58 p.m. ET

https://nypost.com>2024/06/11>

 A 19-year-old college freshman from New York died of a fentanyl overdose after taking just one pill that she believed to be Percocet, according to her grieving family.

Paige Gibbons, of Pittsford, was attending Hobart and William Smith Colleges with dreams of becoming a doctor when she and a friend popped what they were told was a Percocet pill in November 2022.

 In closing buying drugs on social media or the dark web as well as taking drugs from your friends is the same as playing Russian Roulette                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     only instead of one bullet this gun has a full clip.

 

References

DEA, “One pill can kill initiative,”

https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-23/202202008

DEA https://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/family/counterfeit-pills-what-you-need-know_POCK%20Overview%20and%20Key%20Results.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/31/health/counterfeit-pills-overdose-deaths-report/index.html