A new study is sounding the alarm about fentanyl and teenagers, according to researchers who warn that the synthetic opioid is playing an outsized role in young people's overdose deaths.
Researchers say fentanyl is involved in three quarters of all adolescent overdose deaths, a figure that underscores how central the drug has become to the danger facing teens.
According to the study, a more troubling finding is that many teenagers simply do not understand the dangers of the drug, a gap in awareness that researchers say puts them at greater risk.
That lack of understanding is especially true among eighth graders, researchers said, pointing to some of the youngest teens as particularly unaware of what the drug can do.
Doctors warn that trying fentanyl even once can cause a fatal overdose, and that the danger is often compounded when the drug is hidden in other substances that teens may not realize they are taking.
The findings add to growing concern among health experts about the reach of fentanyl among young people and the need for teenagers to understand just how dangerous even a single exposure can be.