As teen fentanyl deaths continue to rise in the United States, a Wisconsin mom warned families on Tuesday, August 30, of the dangers of poisonings plaguing colleges and universities across the country after tragically losing her 19-year-old son to the deadly drug.
Erin Rachwal told "America's Newsroom" that this does not discriminate at all and that fentanyl has changed the game. The grieving mom added that families should stop thinking that this kind of tragedy could never happen to them. She explained that the drug's presence has become so widespread in the country that it has worked its way into small towns and communities.
Rachwal said they were like any normal, happy family and did many things with their kids. She told the host, Dana Perino, that they had two boys, and Logan was a very vulnerable kid. She added that they were on top of this very quickly with him.
Parents must educate their children about the dangers of fentanyl
Erin noted that what is happening in America now is that fentanyl is being laced and put into anything. Rachwal warned that the opioid crisis had permeated every community and college across the United States, increasing the likelihood that any American could fall victim to its devastating effects.
Rachwal had a message to her fellow parents, saying there is only so much they can do, but they need to educate their children. She encourages parents to have open conversations with their kids at a very young age about the dangers of drugs. She said they work at the college and high school level, but this conversation needs to start much earlier.
She added that kids learn so much when they are young, and that is when they teach them not to cross the street without looking both ways. She noted that those are when they need to start talking to kids about not taking anything unless it comes from their home, their doctor, or their prescription.
According to Administrator Anne Milgram, fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat the United States has ever encountered. She said that fentanyl is everywhere, from rural America to large metropolitan areas, and no community is safe from this poison.
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Fentanyl deaths rising in the country
She added that they must take every opportunity to spread the word to prevent fentanyl-related overdose deaths and poisonings from claiming scores of American lives every day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that 107,375 people in the U.S. died of drug poisoning and overdoses in the 12 months ending in January 2022. A shocking 67 percent of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Some of these deaths were attributed to users unaware they were actually taking fentanyl.
