Even as drug use has declined among teenagers during the pandemic, overdose deaths increased, likely due to the highly potent opioid fentanyl, according to a new study.
Overdose deaths among teenagers 14-18 held steady for years before doubling in 2020 as the pandemic set in, and they continued to climb last year. A total of 1,146 adolescents in this age group died in 2021 — 20% over 954 deaths in 2020. There were 492 such deaths in 2019.
Published today in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), Trends in Drug Overdose Deaths Among US Adolescents, January 2010 to June 2021, noted an alarming increase in deaths driven by the widespread presence of illicit fentanyl in the drug supply, particularly in fake prescription opioid and benzodiazepine pills sold illegally. Researchers calculated the results by comparing overdose deaths per 100,000 for teenagers with US death records data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin. Often it is sold illegally as a white powder, but over the years has been discovered mixed in with all types of other drugs — heroin, cocaine, meth and even marijuana.
At some point, fentanyl began showing up as pills, disguised as prescription Xanax, Percocet and Vicodin, for example. Many experts say teenagers are more likely to experiment or use prescription pills recreationally than they would heroin or crack cocaine. With fake prescription pills made of fentanyl, young people face a much higher risk of death from overdose.
"The increases are almost entirely due to illicit fentanyl, which is increasingly found in counterfeit pills," Joseph Friedman, a researcher at UCLA and lead author on the paper, said in a press release. "These counterfeit pills are spreading across the nation, and teens may not realize they are dangerous.”
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star via AP File
A display of the fentanyl and meth that was seized by Customs and Border Protection officers at the Nogales Port of Entry is shown during a press conference in January 2019, in Nogales, Ariz. As the number of U.S. overdose deaths continues to soar, states are trying to take steps to combat a flood of the drug that has proved the most lethal -- illicitly produced fentanyl.
Fentanyl has ravaged the nation, tearing apart families of all classes, and was responsible for pushing overdose deaths of all ages to a record high of more than 100,000 last year. According to this latest study, teenage deaths are higher than the general population, with American Indians and Alaska Natives experiencing the brunt of overdose deaths, followed by Latinx teens.
The report pointed out drug use is not becoming more common among teenagers, but that the highly potent fentanyl is just so much more deadly. “Drug use is becoming more dangerous," Friedman said, "not more common.”
In fact, the study found that just 18.7 percent of 10th graders reported using drugs by 2021, a decrease from the 30% the year before.
Friedman recommends young people have more access to naloxone — a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses — as well as mental health care and substance use services.
“Teens urgently need to be informed about this rising danger,” Friedman said.