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Weiser rolls out new fentanyl education campaign

By 09/01/2023 | updated 2 years ago
Multicolored fentanyl pills, or "rainbow fentanyl," can resemble candy.

Attorney General Phil Weiser on Friday announced the roll out of a new statewide educational campaign, which warns Colorado youth they should not misuse prescription pills that could be laced with fentanyl.
 
The two-year campaign will focus on 11 to 18-year-olds, their parents or guardians, and other trusted adults like teachers and coaches.  
 
The campaign provides teens and adults with facts about the risks of fentanyl, an extremely powerful opioid that is often mixed into counterfeit pills and powdered drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.
 
Even a tiny amount of fentanyl can be deadly, the Attorney General’s Office reiterated on Friday. 
 
The campaign also highlights the signs of an opioid overdose and how people can use naloxone to reverse it.
 
Fentanyl has been fueling a spiraling overdose crisis in Colorado and across the United States, and officials have said the drug’s increasingly ubiquitous presence, both in the illicit market overall and in other substances, has permanently changed the drug supply.
 
Weiser’s office said the Connect Effect campaign demonstrates the power of connection to protect teens, including how young people can look out for each other and how parents and other trusted adults can talk to young people about the risks of fentanyl-laced pills and powdered drugs.
 
The campaign uses positive social norms to show that most teens make healthy choices, which would give them confidence that they are in “good company when they don’t take pills that are not prescribed to them,” Weiser’s office said. 
 
The campaign strategy is based on surveys and discussion groups with Colorado teens and consultations with national experts on positive social norms. 
 
“While it’s critical to highlight the pressing threat that fentanyl presents to Colorado youth, it’s also important to acknowledge that the vast majority of Colorado teens are making healthy choices and looking out for their friends and peers. This is proven to reinforce their healthy behavior,” Weiser said. 
 
The $750,000 tab for the two-year campaign comes from more than $700 million in settlements the attorney general has obtained from pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors that his office said created and fueled the opioid crisis.
 
The awareness campaign will be managed by SE2, a public policy and marketing firm selected through a competitive bidding process.
 
Also part of the campaign is Rise Above Colorado, a statewide nonprofit prevention organization “that impacts teen perceptions and attitudes about the risks of substance misuse to help youth make empowered, healthy choices.”
 
The latest data on Colorado deaths point to fentanyl’s deadly wake. 
 
While the number of fentanyl-involved overdose deaths in the state plateaued for the first time in three years – signaling hope for families, law enforcement and government health agencies that Coloradans are taking precautions in the wake of the drug’s deadly societal infiltration – the magnitude of the crisis remains staggering.
 
Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment showed 920 people in the state died from fentanyl poisoning in 2022, up .09% from the 2021, when 912 people lost their lives.

Fentanyl rose in popularity because of its potency, lower cost and availability. Indeed, just a few years ago, fentanyl was an unknown to many people. It didn’t start appearing on the Colorado scene as an illicit drug until 2017. Fentanyl-involved overdose deaths more than doubled from 222 in 2019 to 540 in 2020, a 143% increase.  

The Denver Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed to this article.  

Multicolored fentanyl pills, or “rainbow fentanyl,” can resemble candy.
Courtesy of El Paso County Public Health
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Marianne Goodl

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