Fentanyl

To help fight the fentanyl problem, Little Elm ISD is:

• Partnering with local law enforcement, emergency management, and health authorities to monitor and collaborate on the best way to combat the crisis.

• The district stocks Narcan at all campuses. School nurses and school resource officers (SROs) can administer Narcan quickly enough to help reverse the effects of a fentanyl overdose.

• Watch the parent workshops at the Little Elm ISD from 2023. .

• District counselors will continue to inform students about fentanyl dangers at campus assemblies. Informational posters including “One Pill Can Kill” have been distributed to all campuses and placed in hallways and all restrooms.

To help fight the fentanyl problem, you can:

• Talk to your children. Tell them that ANY pill they get from a friend or purchased online or off of the street could be a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl. Only take medication that was prescribed by a doctor, purchased at a pharmacy, and approved by parents or guardians.   

• Learn about the fentanyl crisis and help spread the word that this is a dangerous situation. Visit the Centers for Disease Control website’s Fentanyl Facts page as a starting-point:https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html

• Ensure that your child delivers all medications, including over-the-counter medications, to the school nurse for distribution. Students should not carry any medications with them at school, nor share them for any reason.   

• Reach out to your school nurse or counselor with any specific concerns, or if you need additional resources that are unique to your family.

It is a deadly synthetic opioid that is being pressed into fake pills or cut into heroin, cocaine, and other street drugs to drive addiction.

The Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion are making fentanyl and pressing it into fake pills. Fake pills are made to look like OxyContin®, Xanax®, Adderall®, and other pharmaceuticals. These fake pills contain no legitimate medicine. — Fentanyl is also made in a rainbow of colors so it looks like candy.

DEA lab testing reveals that four out of every ten fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.

Fentanyl use can cause confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, changes in pupil size, cold and clammy skin, coma, and respiratory failure leading to death.

• Drug traffickers are using social media to advertise drugs and conduct sales. If you have a smartphone and a social media account, then a drug trafficker can find you. This also means they are finding your kids who have social media accounts.
• To learn about emoji codes used on social media, visit Emoji Drug Code Decoded on www.dea.gov/onepill.

• The drug landscape is dramatically different from when you grew up, or even from just a few years ago.
• All parents and caregivers need to be educated on current drug threats to be able to have informed talks with their kids.

• Encourage open and honest communication
• Explain what fentanyl is and why it is so dangerous
• Stress not to take any pills that were not prescribed to you from a doctor
• No pill purchased on social media is safe
• Make sure they know fentanyl has been found in most illegal drugs
• Create an “exit plan” to help your child know what to do if they’re pressured to take a pill or use drugs
• For more tips on how to talk to your child about drugs, read Chapter 4 of Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent’s Guide to Substance Use Prevention at www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/publications