The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States has warned that brightly - colored "rainbow fentanyl" is being used to target the young. Officials have highlighted this worrying trend that this brightly - colored fentanyl, which is "highly addictive" and "potentially deadly", is being used to induce addiction among young drug users.

A new type of rainbow - colored synthetic drug, fentanyl, is being used to target children and adolescents, which has raised the alarm among health officials across the country. According to the DEA, this newly emerged drug is called "rainbow fentanyl". It has bright colors and comes in various forms such as pills, powder, and blocks. Drug dealers do this deliberately to lure children and young people into taking drugs.

The agency and its law enforcement partners confiscated colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states in August. Health experts point out that rainbow fentanyl is especially dangerous for young children because it looks very much like candy or even chalk and is extremely easy to be confused with them.

Dr. Paul Christo, an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Health magazine, "These pills or powders have various bright colors, shapes, and sizes and are specifically designed to attract children and young people. Children often try to take them orally. They want to taste them or know how to use them, and this is extremely dangerous."

The DEA report shows that fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug, which is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Only 2 milligrams of fentanyl (equivalent to about 10 - 15 grains of table salt) is considered a lethal dose.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse points out that fentanyl is also a prescription drug similar to morphine and is usually used to treat severe pain or chronic pain, especially post - operative pain.

Dr. Christo explained that when doctors prescribe fentanyl, it can be administered by injection or skin patch. "For example, for patients with chronic pain, fentanyl will be in the form of a patch. In the operating room, we relieve pain by intravenous injection," he added.

However, when synthetic fentanyl is used illegally and sold in the form of powder, dropper, nasal spray, or made into pills similar to other prescription opioid drugs, it often leads to overdose.

"Fentanyl is generally very dangerous because of its high potency. It is 80 - 100 times more potent than morphine," said Dr. Christo. "No matter what form of ingestion, such as oral, intravenous, or nasal injection, a small amount of intake can quickly lead to death."

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the mortality rate due to overdose of synthetic opioid drugs such as fentanyl increased by more than 56% between 2019 and 2020. Another CDC report found that the number of deaths due to overdose of synthetic opioid drugs such as fentanyl increased from about 57,834 in 2020 to 71,238 in 2021.

Dr. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Langone, MPH, and PhD, told Health magazine in an interview that "rainbow fentanyl" is different from existing fentanyl because it can have different shapes, sizes, and colors.

"Until recently, fentanyl pills were mainly blue. They were used to counterfeit oxycodone, an opioid drug with much weaker potency," said Palamar. "Recently, there have been more pills of different colors on the market."

Although rainbow fentanyl and traditional fentanyl are different in appearance, experts say that any contact with this drug in any form can be dangerous. In fact, the DEA points out that without laboratory testing, it is impossible to know exactly the concentration of fentanyl in pills or powders of different colors or sizes that are now available.

Dr. Christo said, "Since we don't know the dose each person takes and we don't know how much fentanyl is in a small pill or a block that looks like chalk or candy, I think this is deadly. I hope everyone thinks so."

Palamar said that this drug may be similar to children's candies, such as Sweetarts. In some cases, drug users may leave fentanyl behind, giving children the opportunity to come into contact with it and mistake it for candy.

"I think the biggest risk is when a child's parents or other family members use fentanyl," Palamar explained. "If a mother or brother leaves these pills around, children in the family may think they are candies. I guess these pills are not sweet, so I hope that if a child tastes one, he will spit it out immediately."

Although some people are worried that children and young people may come into contact with rainbow fentanyl at school or during activities such as Halloween, Palamar believes that this situation is unlikely to happen because these pills cost money.

"Even if these pills cost only a few dollars each, people probably won't buy them to play a joke on unsuspecting children during Halloween. At least I hope not," said Palamar. "It's unlikely, but that doesn't mean it's impossible."

Although experts suspect that drug dealers will not put fentanyl in Halloween candy, parents still need to be vigilant, understand this drug, including its appearance and what to do if it is found.

"Both parents and children need to be educated about fentanyl. If parents can get their children to agree not to eat any candy until it has been inspected, they may feel better," said Palamar. "Similarly, parents can warn their children not to eat any candy that looks like fentanyl pills reported in the news."

In addition to educating themselves and their children about rainbow fentanyl and checking the candy that children plan to eat on Halloween, parents can also use fentanyl test strips to detect fentanyl when in doubt. The test strips may be available from local public health departments.

Dr. Christo introduced, "If you see one of these pills, you can scrape some of the pill into a container, add water, and then put in the fentanyl test strip. The test strip will show whether the drug contains fentanyl."

If you think you have been in contact with any form of fentanyl, do not touch, handle, or ingest it and call the police immediately. People who may have taken fentanyl should seek medical attention immediately. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that naloxone (trade name Narcan) can help people who have overdosed to resume normal breathing within two to three minutes.