Opioid Awareness
As parents and caregivers, we send our children out into the world each day with hope and we trust that they will make good choices and be safe from harm. When they get home, we find the time to check in on their day. It can be hard to find the time, and we may not always get much of a response, but we never stop trying.
Northern Virginia is an amazing place to live and grow. But unfortunately, our community is not immune to an upward trend in fatal opioid overdoses among young adults and school-age children. We must be vigilant in our understanding of these trends, talking to our children about the dangers, and spotting the signs of use. Keeping the lines of communication open between you and your child is so critically important.
Opioids are a class of drugs used to treat pain, and can include both prescription medications as well as illegal drugs. Tragically, their misuse can lead to devastating outcomes. Fentanyl is an especially powerful opioid that is extremely lethal, even in small doses. Most fatal overdoses in Fairfax County in recent years have involved fentanyl. Although substance use has declined among Fairfax County youth over the past several years, fatal opioid overdoses continue to rise. In 2021 there were 111 fatal opioid overdoses in the Fairfax Health District, according to the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Particularly troubling are the ways that fentanyl is being produced to resemble other prescription opioids like oxycodone, or in the case of rainbow fentanyl, to have a candy-like appearance (both pictured below).
Original source can be found here
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