Your friends care about what you think.
Get informed about fentanyl and fake pills and share what you know to help keep your friends healthy and safe.
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Teens: Use your influence
Call 911 right away if you think
your friend is overdosing.
Washington state’s Good Samaritan laws protect you both from prosecution for drug possession.
Teens: Use your influence
REAL FACTS ABOUT FAKE PILLS
Friends share funny videos, history notes, favorite snacks, and car rides home. Not pills.
Illicit (illegal) fentanyl is a harmful street drug. It’s showing up in fake pills that look just like real prescription pills, including OxyContin, Adderall, Percocet, and Xanax.
You should know:
- Fentanyl has no unique look, taste, or smell.
- You can’t tell by looking whether a pill has fentanyl in it.
- Any amount of a powder or part of a pill laced with fentanyl can be enough to cause overdose or death.
That’s why you should only take medicine that has been prescribed to you and never share it with friends. Get more facts about fentanyl.
THIS IS YOUR PREFRONTAL CORTEX
It helps you decide if a choice is safe or not, and it’s still growing. That makes it hard to tell how risky something really is.
Taking prescription pills that aren’t yours might seem like an OK risk, but it isn’t.
Your brain is growing and changing in other ways too. Opioids, like illicit fentanyl, can impact healthy development, confuse your brain’s reward center, and create dependency and addiction. The risk just isn’t worth it.
USE YOUR INFLUENCE
The truth is most people your age don’t experiment with pills of any kind, so it’s perfectly OK not to try them. Teens who do experiment with fake pills are often experiencing mental health struggles, physical pain, or peer pressure. As a friend, you play an important role in keeping your friends safe.
Check in
If your friend isn’t acting like their usual self, talk to them about what’s going on. If the problem is serious, also talk to a trusted grown-up.
Get involved
Happiness is contagious. Whether it’s trying out for a sports team, making art, or playing video games, encourage your friends to do things that make them feel healthy and happy.
Refuse together
Tell your friends what you know about the risks of fake pills and fentanyl. Make a pact not to take or share pills.