Is 'rainbow fentanyl' a threat to your kids this Halloween? Experts say no

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/11/1127168627/is-rainbow-fentanyl-a-threat-to-your-kids-this-halloween-experts-say-no

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DEA warning meets skepticism from drug experts

Drug policy experts contacted by NPR agree there's no new fentanyl threat this Halloween. Many are also skeptical of the DEA's original warning. They don't believe Mexican drug cartels and street dealers have launched any new campaign targeting children.

"I don't see any evidence that the DEA has produced that supports that conjecture," said Nabarun Dasgupta, a researcher studying illegal drugs at the University of North Carolina.

Dasgupta's lab tests illegally manufactured opioid pills collected from across the United States. He says colored pills like the ones highlighted in the DEA warning are on the streets but that it's nothing new.

"We get them almost on a daily basis," he said. "We see pinks and purples, yellow, green, red, aqua, fuchsia. It's a pretty wide palette. Blue is the predominant color, but it's not surprising to see any of those."

Indeed, street drug experts contacted by NPR say traffickers have long used bright colors in their products for reasons that have nothing to do with children.

Dr. Sheila Vakharia, head of research for an addiction think-tank called the Drug Policy Alliance, said dealers use colors, stamps and other markers "to distinguish their product from other products on the street."

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[Effete Snob]

1. We're all out. The dealers around me are already selling Christmas Fentanyl

[Johnny2X2X]

2. Agree, the only risk is if it's a mistake

Smugglers did use candy packaging to smuggle some fentanyl, but that doesn't mean they're targeting children, just means it was seen as a good way to smuggle. The only way that's dangerous is if those packages got lost in shipping and somehow ended up on the shelves.

Drug dealers and smugglers want to make money, handing out fentanyl to children would be idiotic. You'd be handing out expensive product for free, drawing attention to yourself, and harming kids. Fentanyl is a scourge, but creating false boogiemen distracts from the real fight against it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. lol whomst would have thought. K&R