Teen overdose deaths have never been higher in the US as young Americans are increasingly poisoned by the synthetic opiate fentanyl, even as fewer teens use drugs.
More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year – the vast majority were adults – but the fastest growing group to die of overdoses were teenagers.
Melanie Ramos’ family knows this all too well. The 15-year-old girl died inside her school’s bathroom last month after taking a pill laced with fentanyl.
Melanie and her friend thought they were taking Percocet, a pain medication that is sometimes abused. But the counterfeit pills were laced with fentanyl and she was poisoned.
Read more at BBC.com