One Pill: The Dangers of Fentanyl

I remember being so flustered when a cop was talking to me. They asked if I was his girlfriend, and I said yes. They asked if Charlie took drugs, and I, still flustered, said he did but was really safe about it. We were going to make dinner when our housemate Caesar came into the kitchen and said something was wrong with Chuck. We started smacking Charlie around, trying to move him, and at one point, blood started coming out of his nose. We heard fire trucks and I texted Charlie, "Yo, what's going on?" Then Tommy called me in tears. I saw all of his housemates on the ground crying, people who were my friends. That's when it really kicked in. They said, "We have some bad news. Charlie died." I was in shock, "What are you talking about? Charlie?" He didn't die from an overdose; Charlie was poisoned.

The DEA is warning parents to keep a close eye on their child's or teen's social media activities after investigations across the U.S. involving children dying from fentanyl overdoses. There are millions of these dangerous fake pills out there—fifteen thousand pounds of the highly lethal drug fentanyl this year alone. It killed musicians Prince in 2016, Tom Petty in 2017, and nearly killed Demi Lovato in 2018. An opioid 100 times more potent than heroin, it's smuggled into the U.S. mainly from Mexico. Michael K. Williams was found dead in his New York apartment from mixed drug toxicity with fentanyl.

Charlie was a fraternity brother, a senior in college, down to party, and in the range of normal, not dependent or addicted. He thought he was getting a Percocet, but it was a counterfeit, poisonous pill. There was nothing Percocet about what he took; it was completely fake. My dad texted me to call him, and that's when I knew something was wrong. When they told me, it was earth-shattering. I was just screaming, crying, and getting sick, thinking, "Why him?" I see now that nothing is worth what we experienced that day. It makes you really sit back and think; it could have been anyone. No high is worth the pain I felt.

Talking to Mama T the next day, trying to process things together, we learned that taking and sharing prescription pills has become normalized among young people. Social media is a place they go to buy these pills without a prescription. It's just become a normal thing at colleges, and it's crazy. When you do drugs in high school or college, you have no idea where you're getting them from. People say they trust their dealer, but in reality, they have no idea where that dealer is getting them from. The fact that one pill could end your life is crazy. It sucks that I didn't think about it until something like this happened. We never imagined Charlie would take one pill and be gone.

We want to raise awareness about the new risks and dangers in the era of fentanyl and synthetic drugs. None of the victims behind us died of an overdose; they were poisoned. Each of them took a single pill. It's impossible to overdose on a Xanax unless it's counterfeit and made of fentanyl. These counterfeit pills have flooded the market. If you don't get a pill from your doctor or pharmacist, you have to assume it's fake. The legitimate ones are pushed out of the market. Warn your friends and don't let this happen to you. Don't have your family up here next year. Fentanyl— the first time I heard that word was Charlie's death. If it could happen to Charlie, it could happen to anyone. One freak moment that you can't take back makes the biggest shockwave ever.

You didn't create this problem, but you can solve it. The solution is in your hands. Tell everyone you know that this is happening. Fentanyls are everywhere and they're deadly. With your help, this problem can go away. This is a solvable problem if everybody knows that it's happening.