A spike in fentanyl overdose deaths in the Chicago area and elsewhere has caused law enforcement officials and others to urge young people to rethink experimenting with drugs. Several fentanyl overdose deaths  locally have involved college students and teenagers. Most of them were not even aware that the drug they’ve purchased and/or taken contained  fentanyl, which is a powerful opioid. 

In 2022, there were 1,825 fentanyl overdose deaths in Cook County compared to 103 overdose deaths in 2015, according to the county’s medical examiner. Some data collected, concluded there were 24 fentanyl overdose deaths of people between the ages of 10 and 19 and 230 fentanyl overdose deaths of people between the ages of 20 and 29 in 2023 alone. A lot of the statistics had not been made available yet so there could be many more. 

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has started the “One Pill Can Kill” program to spread the word about “the dangers of illicit pills,” said Gregory Czaczkowski, a Chicago-based special agent with the DEA. 

The DEA has been very creative in getting the word out that one pill of fentanyl can kill.  The DEA has teamed up with NFL Alumni Heath to spread awareness of fentanyl overdose deaths through online informational videos and articles, online informational communities, and events to spread awareness. 

“Seven out of 10 pills that the DEA sees contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, which can lead someone down the path of substance use disorder, or possible poisoning, overdose, and death,” Czaczkowski said. 

Examples of those who have died locally include a Loyola University sophomore, Max Larson, who died of fentanyl poisoning in his dorm room; Loyola’s student newspaper reported he believed he was taking Xanax, an anti-anxiety pill. The drug dealer assured him that the pills were real. 

In  Loyola’s student newspaper Larry Larson, Max’s father, commented that he was very proud of his son as far as academics, friendships and piano. 

Another example is Peter Jeske, who was a college senior at Indiana University and is from Glen Ellyn, IL. Jeske died in 2022 due to fentanyl poisoning while away at college in Indiana. 

According to WBEZ, Chicago’s public radio affiliate, Jeske’s death was likely due to a counterfeit pill, most likely making  Jeske think the pill  he was taking was something else.   

Around 36 miles away in Joliet IL, Faithe Conley, a 15 year old freshman at Joliet West High School,  died of a fentanyl overdose in 2023, according to the Patch news site. The man who gave her the drug Dametreas Triplett is facing drug-induced homicide charges. Tripplett is currently incarcerated at Will County Adult Detention Facility on other charges and bail has been set for $500,000. 

DePaul’s director of public safety, Robert Wachowski, said Public Safety officers on campus carry and are trained to use Narcan, or naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Narcan is a nasal spray that is sprayed into the nostril then blocks the effects of opioids on the brian within within minutes. This will help restore breathing and prevent death from overdose. 

“We would use this (Narcan) for anyone who overdoses on campus,” Wachowski said in an email response to The DePaulia.

This information should put at least a little bit of ease on the minds of DePaul students and parents such as Arthem Smalyukh, a DePaul junior.

“I have a lot of friends I grew up with that are DePaul students,” he said. “I wouldn’t want them to get influenced, so I am concerned,” Smalyukh said.

Czaczkowski said the DEA has been trying to stop drug trafficking organizations in Mexico from pushing fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

“We are also working with state and local law-enforcement to investigate the drug gangs and cartels from inside our own country as well as throughout the world,” Czaczkowski said. 

Czaczkowski further explained that the Mexican cartels are using dangerous and inconsistent techniques to manufacture this drug in labs where other types of drugs are being mixed. 

“The Mexican drug cartels are getting precursor chemicals from China and manufacturing it throughout Mexico,” Czaczkowski said.  

According to a DEA Intelligence Report, Mexico and China are the primary source of  fentanyl trafficking to the United States. India however is arising as an origin for finished fentanyl powder and fentanyl precursor chemicals. 

Suzanne Carlberg-Rachich, director of DePaul’s Master of Public Health program, explains that fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin. 

“This means it carries a much higher risk of overdose than heroin,” Carlberg-Racich said, who is also director of research at the Chicago Recovery Alliance. “Sometimes people use it intentionally, and other times people don’t know they are using it.” 

 Mike Vertucci, a professor in the justice studies program at College of DuPage, said there needs to be more awareness about the dangers of fentanyl advertised on college campuses through posters, at gatherings, in the classroom  and at home.  

“The best preventative step we can take right now is awareness in our youth through our schools but more importantly through parents,” Vertucci said. 

He worries that parents are not having these serious and potentially life-saving conversations about drug safety with their children. 

Dan Hosteteler, CEO of Above and Beyond Recovery Center in downtown Chicago, said his rehab facility offers walk-in services to help anyone struggling with drug addiction. They help with housing, employment, tattoo removal, mental health and drug recovery services, often for free.