Many teenagers who die from fentanyl overdoses never intended to take the powerful synthetic opioid. Instead, they believed they were taking prescription pills such as Percocet or OxyContin that were actually counterfeit and laced with a deadly amount of fentanyl.
One such story was recently featured on Grieving Out Loud.
David Nathan, a veteran of the music and entertainment industry who has helped shape the careers of artists including Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse and Ariana Grande, lost his 19-year-old son after he unknowingly took a fentanyl-laced pill he believed was Percocet.
“I vowed the day he passed away that I wouldn’t let anyone forget his name,” Nathan said.
Nathan’s story comes as new research suggests many young teens do not fully understand the dangers of fentanyl, even though the drug is involved in at least 75% of adolescent overdose deaths.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that fewer than half of U.S. eighth graders viewed experimenting with fentanyl as carrying a “great risk.” Only 47.8% considered experimental use highly dangerous, while 57.2% said the same about occasional use and 66.5% about regular use.
Risk awareness increased with age. Among 10th graders, 63.6%, 71.5%, and 77.3% attributed great risk to experimental, occasional, or regular use, while these proportions for students in 12th grade were 69.8%, 78.5%, and 84.8%.
Researchers also found that many students were unfamiliar with fentanyl altogether. Nearly 17% of eighth graders said they didn’t know enough about the drug to assess its risks. That figure dropped to nearly 9% among 10th graders and about 10% among 12th graders.
“To the extent that increasing adolescents’ awareness of the dangers of fentanyl is an important tool to prevent overdoses, these results indicate there is room for improvement on this front,” the researchers wrote.
The authors said parents, schools, health care providers and public health campaigns all have important roles in educating young people about fentanyl and the risks posed by counterfeit pills.
“Simple education or public health campaigns could potentially be an effective strategy to convey the dangers of fentanyl use to these youth,” researchers wrote.
The study also found differences among demographic groups. Eighth- and 10th-grade students in rural areas generally perceived fentanyl as more dangerous than their urban peers. Meanwhile, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black students reported the lowest levels of perceived risk and the highest rates of unfamiliarity with the drug, suggesting more targeted outreach may be needed.
For Nathan, raising awareness has become deeply personal.
Today, he is focused on continuing the work his son began. Before his death, his son founded an apparel company called Happy Jack, donating a portion of its proceeds to support children facing mental health challenges.
“He was here for a reason, and his time was up, and he left us, thank God, with a playbook for Happy Jack in terms of what he wanted and how he wanted it,” Nathan said.
Nathan shares more about his son’s life, the dangers of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills and the lessons he hopes other families can learn in a recent episode of Grieving Out Loud.
Emily’s Hope is working to improve fentanyl awareness through its comprehensive K-12 substance use prevention curriculum rooted in evidence-based principles and age-appropriate learning. The program teaches students about the dangers of fentanyl and other drugs while also covering brain health, emotional well-being and medication safety.
