This week I received a "Drug Awareness and Prevention Alert" from my daughter's school district. As is typical of these communications, the message from the Plano, Texas, Independent School District (ISD) mixes sensible advice with alarmist rhetoric and misinformation. That is a risky combination, because skeptical students and parents who recognize the anti-drug nonsense may be inclined to dismiss all of the warnings, including those that have a basis in fact. The alert mentions "fake pills laced with fentanyl," which is a real thing, then adds that fentanyl "can be disguised as candy in order to lure younger kids," which is not a real thing. But this claim was especially striking: "The recent trend of accidental overdoses involving fentanyl is a stark reminder of the hazards posed by this very dangerous opioid. Please be aware that this is not just in the form of pills in our community, but also in the form of injectables into vape cartridges."
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