DEA warns about rainbow-colored fentanyl, appealing to teens and young adults

SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public, specifically parents, about a new trend in the marketing of fentanyl that’s making teens and young adults more susceptible to the drug.

The new trend is brightly colored fentanyl, also dubbed rainbow fentanyl.

And the DEA said it’s important to pay attention to this trend because of just how lethal fentanyl can be.

The DEA said it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl for the dose to be deadly.

For context, a sugar packet is one thousand milligrams.

The DEA said the trend of rainbow fentanyl is a marketing ploy, making the drug almost appear like candy, whether it is in the form of pills, powder, or blocks, resembling sidewalk chalk.

It said the group most susceptible are teens and young adults under 24 years old.

According to the CDC, in the last year, more than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, with more than 60 percent of those death related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

“It is throughout, unfortunately, North Texas, whether that’s in rural communities, whether farming communities, suburbs or downtown areas in urban areas,” said Special Agent in Charge at DEA Dallas Eduardo Chavez. “It does not discriminate.”

Chavez said one thing the DEA highly recommends is to have a conversation about this with your children.

He added even if it’s tough, it might just save their life.

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