A record number of high school teenagers died from drug overdoses in 2022, in an alarming trend driven primarily by fentanyl poisonings from counterfeit pills, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Boston researchers found that an average of 22 teenagers ages 14 to 18 died each week in the US from drug overdoses in 2022.
The drug overdose death rate among teens is more than double what it was in 2018, according to the study, titled “The U.S. Teen Overdose Crisis.”
A total of 1,125 teens died from drug overdoses or poisoning in 2022, making it the third leading cause of death among teens nationwide, behind gun-related injuries and car accidents, respectively, according to the report.
“Fewer teens than ever are actively using drugs, and yet more teens than ever are dying,” lead author Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School. .
“And that’s because drug use isn’t becoming more common: it’s becoming more dangerous.”
Teen drug overdoses hit record high in 2022. mintra – stock.adobe.com
In 2002, 21% of high school seniors said they had used an illicit drug other than cannabis in the previous year.
By 2022, that proportion had fallen to 8%.
Meanwhile, at least 75 percent of teen drug overdose deaths are due to fentanyl poisoning, researchers found.
An average of 22 teenagers ages 14 to 18 died each week in the US from drug overdoses in 2022. Syda Productions – stock.adobe.com
As other studies have found, such poisonings occur primarily when teens inadvertently take counterfeit pills laced with a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid.
“It’s very clear that the issues started to take off a little bit before COVID and then really accelerated during the COVID pandemic,” Hadland told Fox.
“Teenagers were left isolated and unable to go to school or do normal activities, and we know that access to health care systems became more difficult.”
Researchers found that at least 75 percent of teen drug overdose deaths are due to fentanyl poisoning. fizkes – stock.adobe.com
Now, there are no signs of this trend reversing or slowing down.
The study identified Arizona, Colorado and Washington as the most affected states. There, teen drug overdose death rates were nearly double the national average or more between 2020 and 2022.
Hot spot counties included Maricopa County, Arizona, and Los Angeles County, California, which had the highest number of overdose deaths (117 and 111, respectively).
In March 2021, 17-year-old Xavier Gerchow was playing basketball with a friend before dying from fentanyl poisoning.
There are no signs of the trend reversing or slowing down. fusssergei – stock.adobe.com
When Gerchow felt sore after playing, his friend offered to share a Percocet with him. Later, Gerchow went to sleep at his house and never woke up.
Gerchow’s friend was rushed to the hospital and survived, but Gerchow did not.
The Percocet turned out to be fake: it contained 99% fentanyl and 1% cocaine.
“The friend didn’t die from the pill because he had a tolerance to fentanyl,” Madison Gerchow, Xavier’s sister, told Fox. “But Xavier passed away within minutes because he had a clean system.”
Experts recommend that parents talk about the dangers of counterfeit pills and have over-the-counter Naloxone or Narcan (the overdose reversal medication) available at home.
Research has shown that about two-thirds of teenagers who die from overdoses die at home.
Research has shown that about two-thirds of teenagers who die from overdoses die at home. LIGHTFIELD STUDIES – stock.adobe.com
“Health insurance often covers it with little or no copays, and I recommend that parents and teens keep it in a central location in their homes, like you would a fire extinguisher,” Hadland suggested.
While the doctor recommends that parents emphasize to their teens that they should stay drug-free, he also encourages them to have frank conversations about risk reduction strategies for those experimenting with drugs.
“We cannot use scare tactics… [or] generate fear, because when we are too dramatic, teenagers become discouraged,” Hadland said. “Studies show that when we are overly dramatic, teenagers sometimes do the opposite of what we expect them to do.”
Doctors encourage parents to have frank conversations with their children. Chris Tefme – stock.adobe.com
Madison Gerchow started the X Foundation in honor of her only brother, Xavier.
The foundation aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding fentanyl poisoning by raising awareness and providing education about the epidemic.
“I wish we had educated Xavier or ourselves and our friends,” Gerchow said.
“If Narcan was in our house, this could have been a very different reality.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn