Fentanyl-Laced
Pills Are A Threat

Naloxone Spray

The drug supply in Illinois has changed and pills across the state are getting laced with a deadly opioid: Fentanyl. It's 50x stronger than heroin, and it takes less than two salt-sized grains to cause an overdose.11 You can't see, taste, or smell fentanyl, so there's no way of knowing if your drugs are laced until it's too late. So casual experimenting is no longer casual.

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Overdose deaths are preventable. Naloxone (Narcan®) is an over-the-counter medication that can reverse the effect of an overdose. If you or someone you know does drugs, be a good friend by carrying naloxone. Learn how to get it and other life-saving tips here.

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Get Mental Health
Support

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

    Call or text 24/7 for free and confidential support for yourself or a loved one in distress.
    Call 988
    Text to 988

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  • Crisis Text Line

    Get free, 24/7 crisis support, without talking on the phone.
    Text “HELLO” to 741741 or chat on WhatsApp

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  • Trevor Project Lifeline

    For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) people ages 13-24 in need of crisis intervention and suicide prevention, help is available 24/7.
    Call 866.488.7386

    Learn More

  • Teen Line

    If you’re struggling, reach out for support from a teen counselor. Confidential, anonymous help is available every night from 6-10 pm.
    Call 310.855.4673

    Learn More

Facts

  • Whether you want to be a music producer or a lawyer, you want to be successful. But a national study shows using substances as a teen makes that less likely. It also showed that teens who avoid substances like alcohol and marijuana are more likely to get higher paying jobs.1
  • Drinking and drug use can affect academic performance, including doing poorly on exams or papers and receiving lower grades overall. Studies show that people who avoid substances do better in school.2
  • You know how important it is to think things through clearly and look at all the details. But regular substance use when you’re a teen creates long-lasting issues with memory and attention. That makes it harder to remember the details or stay focused on hard challenges.3
  • You know what you need to get done, but regular use hurts your body, changes your brain, and weakens your athletic performance. The more you use, the more damage you do.4
  • Research shows people who start drinking as teens are 5x more likely to develop alcohol use disorder than those who begin drinking after 21, because teen brains are still forming.5
  • It’s not just forgetting what happened at the party. Regular drinking as a teen can permanently change the way your memory works6
  • You need to keep learning and moving up, but drinking as a teen can stop that from happening. Regular drinking changes your brain, making it permanently harder to learn new things.7
  • If you sometimes feel depressed or anxious, alcohol can actually make that worse, not better. Drinking is shown to make teens more depressed, long-term—not just while drinking.8
  • Drinking as a teen makes you more likely to have anxiety, depression, and mental health disorders later in life.9
  • Driving high is NOT the move. Some studies show that high drivers are over 80% more likely to crash than those who aren’t.10

Sources

1 Teens' regular marijuana or alcohol use threatens later success. American Council on Science and Health. (2017, November 8). Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/11/06/teens-regular-marijuana-or-alcohol-use-threatens-later-success-12096.

2 Bugbee, B. A., Beck, K. H., Fryer, C. S., & Arria, A. M. (2019). Substance use, academic performance, and academic engagement among high school seniors. Journal of School Health, 89(2), 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12723.

3 Broyd, S. J., van Hell, H. H., Beale, C., Yücel, M., & Solowij, N. (2016). Acute and chronic effects of cannabinoids on human cognition—a systematic review. Biological Psychiatry, 79(7), 557–567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.12.002; National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, August 3). Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research-Based Guide. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-adolescent-substance-use-disorder-treatment-research-based-guide/introduction.

4 Batalla, A., Bhattacharyya, S., Yuecel, M., Fusar-Poli, P., Crippa, J. A., Nogue, S., ... & Martin-Santos, R. (2013). Structural and functional imaging studies in chronic cannabis users: a systematic review of adolescent and adult findings. PloS one, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055821; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 6). Underage drinking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017, April 13). What you need to know about marijuana use in teens. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/factsheets/teens.htm.

5 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Underage drinking. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drinking.

6 Elofson, J., Gongvatana, W., & Carey, K. B. (2013). Alcohol use and cerebral white matter compromise in adolescence. Addictive Behaviors, 38(7), 2295–2305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.03.001; Spear, L. P. (2018). Effects of adolescent alcohol consumption on the brain and behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 19(4), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2018.10.

7 Gómez-A, A., Dannenhoffer, C. A., Elton, A., Lee, S. H., Ban, W., Shih, Y.-Y. I., Boettiger, C. A., & Robinson, D. L. (2021). Altered cortico-subcortical network after adolescent alcohol exposure mediates behavioral deficits in flexible decision-making. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.12.435040; Wemm, S., Koone, T., Blough, E. R., Mewaldt, S., & Bardi, M. (2010). The role of DHEA in relation to problem solving and academic performance. Biological Psychology, 85(1), 53–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.05.003.

8 Boden, J., Blair, S., & Newton-Howes, G. (2020). Alcohol use in adolescents and adult psychopathology and social outcomes: Findings from a 35-year cohort study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(9), 909–918. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867420924091; Pedrelli, P., Shapero, B., Archibald, A., & Dale, C. (2016). Alcohol use and depression during adolescence and young adulthood: A summary and interpretation of mixed findings. Current Addiction Reports, 3(1), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0084-0.

9 Boden, J., Blair, S., & Newton-Howes, G. (2020). Alcohol use in adolescents and adult psychopathology and social outcomes: Findings from a 35-year cohort study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(9), 909–918. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867420924091; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, May 12). Adolescent and School Health: Mental Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/mental-health/index.htm; Pandey, S. C., Sakharkar, A. J., Tang, L., & Zhang, H. (2015). Potential role of adolescent alcohol exposure-induced amygdaloid histone modifications in anxiety and alcohol intake during adulthood. Neurobiology of Disease, 82, 607–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2015.03.019; Pedrelli, P., Shapero, B., Archibald, A., & Dale, C. (2016). Alcohol use and depression during adolescence and young adulthood: A summary and interpretation of mixed findings. Current Addiction Reports, 3(1), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0084-0.

10 Rogeberg, O., and R. Elvik. 2016. “The effects of cannabis intoxication on motor vehicle collision revisited and revised.” Addiction 111 (8):1348-59. doi: 10.1111/add.13347. F

11 Alarming spike in fentanyl-related overdose deaths leads officials to issue public warning. (2020, August 6). Drug Enforcement Administration. https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2020/08/06/alarming-spike-fentanyl-related-overdose-deaths-leads-officials-issue


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