芬太尼在青少年中的过量使用正在增加. 父母能做些什么？?

Fentanyl, there's a good chance you've heard of this drug. It's used in emergency rooms in hospitals for sedation. 这是一种合成阿片类药物，制造成本很低. 当它在医院使用时, 在严密的监督下, 还有解药, 烯丙羟吗啡酮, 总是近在咫尺. What you may not have heard is that this cheap substitute is being added illegally to other pills, 包括止痛药, 青少年和年轻人都在使用它, 这正在杀死他们.

与芬太尼相关的青少年过量用药人数上升

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl was involved in 84% of teen overdose deaths in 2021, 而且这个问题正在加剧. Fentanyl-related overdose deaths in teens tripled from 2019 to 2021, and many of those deaths were due to counterfeit pills, 不是处方药. 只要两毫克，就足以致命. Fentanyl is infiltrating high schools in the form of tainted Valium, 受污染的止疼药, 还有孩子们从其他孩子那里得到的毒品, 不是药店买的.

青少年如何获得芬太尼

As a pediatrician, those aren't medications I would ever prescribe to a patient anyway. So the big question is where are teens getting these pills? 答案同样可怕. Kids are finding other kids who are selling these counterfeit pills through social media. Kids who are struggling with mental health issues are looking for ways to feel better, 他们经常求助于毒品. I see it often in my practice, but most of the time it's marijuana I see. Kids who are truly desperate will try anything though, and they find these other drugs online.

学校意识和药物过量预防工作

Schools across the country are aware of this problem. 不幸的是, in 2021, a national survey of drug use and health found that only about 60% of 12 to 17-year-old students reported that they had drug and alcohol prevention discussed at school. 学校可以做一些事情. They can always have 烯丙羟吗啡酮, also known as Narcan, on hand. 你知道的, 你可以买纳洛酮, the antidote for opioid overdose over the counter at many national drugstore chains and online.

家长在药物过量预防中的重要作用

The real conversation about this, however, should start at home. Parents need to let their kids know fentanyl is out there. It's laced in other pills, and it's killing kids their age. Parents need to be the ones to talk to their kids about how if they are offered pills, 即使是朋友, 他们不应该服用.

Shifting the Anti-Drug Message: Moving Beyond "Just Say No"

In the past, the big anti-drug message was, "Just say no.“嗯，这并不总是奏效. Kids aren't necessarily looking for heroin or meth or weed. They're looking for pain meds or psych meds, but looking online. And the bottom line is those selling pills on social media really don't care about your kids. 他们在乎钱. A better message is don't take anything that you aren't specifically prescribed by your doctor and has been dispensed by a legit pharmacy.

Kids need to hear from families and other kids who have been affected by one of their family members or friends dying from a fentanyl overdose. It needs to be personalized so they can see the faces of those left behind, and hear the stories of the kids who had promising futures and made one bad mistake to take a pill, 然后他们付出了最终的代价. The bottom line, the time to take action is now before it's too late. 和你的孩子谈谈芬太尼.