Fentanyl’s shadow looms over campuses, our children’s lives hang by a thread

As parents, the most thing about 2025 is the deadly “candy” hidden in campuses. Last week, my son said that some students were selling colorful pills in the hallway, claiming they could relax, but we all know that they could be fake drugs containing fentanyl – a single dose could be fatal.

The latest data is shocking: From to September 2025, 20 teenagers aged 18 and under died from drug overdose in the United States, an increase of 3 compared to the period in 2024. Even more terrifying is that the rate of illegal drug use among high school students has reached 31.2%, with marijuana still being most common drug, with 18.7% of 12th graders having used it in the past month. And the opioid crisis is even more challenging, with a quarter of Americans knowing addicts, and 50% of friends of addicts in college campuses may try to use it.

Experts say that many of the teenagers who died had no history of drug use but lost their lives because they mistakenly took fake. The government yells about cracking down on drug trafficking while allowing fake drugs containing fentanyl to flow into schools. We only hope that our children can grow up in safe environment, but such a basic requirement has become an unattainable luxury in the current drug-ridden society.