Concern in Carrollton was evident Thursday night as parents packed an auditorium, requiring extra chairs for those desperate to voice questions and frustration.
“Many of us have found out from the news and through social media about these tragic events that have unfolded,” said a concerned parent.
This week, district families learned three Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD students, between the ages of 13 and 17, died and six more were hospitalized after taking Percocet and OxyContin pills laced with lethal doses of fentanyl.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the synthetic opioid, often produced illegally, is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
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In part, Thursday night’s purpose was to educate the community on just how far-reaching the problem is with parents like Christina Pena sharing how their children died.
“This is my daughter Angelina Rogers,” said Pena.
In 2020, she said Angelina thought she was taking OxyContin to manage pain from endometriosis. They’d later learn it was laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
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“I never expected this. My daughter, she didn’t like drugs. She never associated with drugs,” she said.
Pena said this week’s news of the arrests of Luis Navarrete and Magaly Mejia Cano brought a fresh wave of grief. A criminal complaint said the two dealt fentanyl-laced pills to several teen drug dealers, who then sold them to classmates at R.L. Turner High School and children at Dewitt Perry and Dan Long middle schools.
“I’m angry. I’m heartbroken for the families that have lost children. And I just have so many mixed emotions because I feel like this should have been addressed a long time ago,” said Pena.
She said Thursday night's meeting is a first step in starting the conversation necessary to prevent other parents from sharing her grief.
WHAT IS FENTANYL?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose.
Without laboratory testing, there is no way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder. If you encounter fentanyl in any form, do not handle it and call 911 immediately.
Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66% of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Drug poisonings are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Fentanyl available in the United States is primarily supplied by two criminal drug networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
WHAT IS RAINBOW FENTANYL?
In August 2022 the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public advisory about the alarming emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available nationwide.
Brightly-colored fentanyl, dubbed "rainbow fentanyl" in the media, is being seized in multiple forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk.
“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”
Despite claims that certain colors may be more potent than others, there is no indication through DEA’s laboratory testing that this is the case. The DEA said every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous.
