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Public warned of fake prescription pills, drug substitutions as Fentanyl use rises

by Times Weekly July 13, 2022April 3, 2024

Public warned of fake prescription pills, drug substitutions as Fentanyl use rises

Synthetic and designer drugs can cause life-threatening illnesses, death

By The Times Weekly News Service

Now that summer is in full swing with concerts, music festivals and sporting events, the Illinois Poison Center (IPC) is warning the public to stay safe by avoiding recreational drugs, especially synthetic recreational drugs. In June, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported multiple fatal and non-fatal overdose clusters in several Northern Illinois counties related to heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

“We are seeing a significant spike of overdose cases across the nation due to synthetic drugs,” said IPC Medical Director, Michael Wahl, M.D. “Illegal drug manufacturers are mixing fentanyl with cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy and other known ‘party drugs’ and selling the product at parties, festivals, and special events. Experimenting with street drugs can be fatal and that first time could be your last.”

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), drug traffickers are using fake pills to exploit the opioid crisis and prescription drug misuse in the United States, bringing overdose deaths and violence to communities nationwide. Since fentanyl is cheap and easy to produce, illicit drug manufacturers often mix it into counterfeit oxycodone (brandnam: Percocet® and OxyContin®), alprazolam (brand name: Xanax®) and Adderall®—substances popular with young adults and teenagers.

For more information on synthetic drugs and other topics, click here to visit the Illinois Poison Center website. You can also find information on IDPH’s website by clicking here or the DEA website by clicking here.

Juneteenth, America’s newest federal holiday, was meant to symbolize a national reckoning with history and a celebration of freedom when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan legislation into law in 2021. Yet, just a few years later, we find Juneteenth events canceled in cities across Indiana, Illinois, and Oregon, as backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives intensifies. This is not just an administrative shift, it’s a cultural one. As some seek to erase or diminish Black joy, we must remember that indulging in joy itself has always been an act of resistance.

From the earliest Juneteenth celebrations to today’s block parties and art festivals, play and happiness have been tools for survival and defiance. For Black and brown communities, joy has always been revolutionary. BLM was founded in 2013 in response to unspeakable tragedies, ones where ruthless oppression, abuse of power, and brutalities flooded our social media timelines following the murder of innocent young men like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Yet even in mourning, our communities found ways to laugh, dance, and dream together. The movement’s global resonance is rooted in this duality, the courage to confront injustice, and the audacity to celebrate life.

More recently, we’ve invested in youth sports programs in local communities and abroad, from Brooklyn, New York to Ghana, to ensure we are building from the inside out and advocating for the most vulnerable. We are guided by the wisdom of our ancestors, who, even in the darkest times, found ways to nurture hope and rebuild. This Juneteenth, let us do more than remember the past. Let us build the future. Migration is a declaration of hope. Just as Black Americans fled the South during the Great Migration seeking dignity, safety, and opportunity, today’s immigrants are doing the same. We call on local leaders, philanthropists, and allies to invest in Black communities and to stand in solidarity with all who are still fighting for freedom. The right to give, to gather, and to celebrate, are as vital as any policy change.

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Public warned of fake prescription pills, drug substitutions as Fentanyl use rises

Synthetic and designer drugs can cause life-threatening illnesses, death

By The Times Weekly News Service

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