‘Open Air Drug Market:’ Social Media Sites Including Instagram, Snapchat Fuel Fentanyl Deaths Among Youth

Social media platforms including Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Instagram, China’s TikTok, and Snapchat have become dangerous marketplaces for the sale of deadly fake pills laced with fentanyl, contributing to a growing epidemic of overdose deaths among young Americans.

AP News reports that social media has a new dark side — the ease with which drug dealers can sell their deadly wares to unsuspecting youth. In the last five years, fentanyl overdoses due to counterfeit pills have become a leading cause of death for minors, even as overall drug use has slightly declined. The DEA found in a 2022 analysis that six out of 10 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills contained a potentially lethal dose.

Experts, law enforcement, and children’s advocates point to social media companies like Snap, TikTok, Telegram, and Meta Platforms (owner of Instagram) as enablers of this crisis. They argue these companies are not doing enough to keep children safe on their platforms. With just a few clicks, kids can find dealers promising prescription pills like Percocet or Xanax. But all too often, what arrives instead are fake pills tainted with lethal doses of fentanyl.

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The stories of victims follow a tragic pattern. Teens hear pills are available on social media. They connect with a dealer, a package arrives, they take a pill in their bedroom, and within minutes they are dead, sometimes not found until the next morning. The National Crime Prevention Council estimates 80 percent of teen and young adult fentanyl poisoning deaths trace back to some social media contact.

While overall accidental overdoses have decreased slightly each year since 2021 according to the CDC, the decline is very small. In 2021 there were 1,622 overdose deaths among ages 0-19, 1,590 in 2022, and 1,511 last year. Education and awareness have helped, but much more needs to be done.

Social media companies say they are constantly working to address the issue, while law enforcement has made some high-profile busts. But the problem persists. Encrypted messaging and alleged lax moderation on some platforms make illegal activity even easier. Money is sent through legitimate payment platforms and drugs delivered by mail.

Grieving parents who have lost children are speaking out and fighting back. Some have sued Snap, calling its Snapchat app “a haven for drug trafficking” and “an open-air drug market.” They argue the vast majority of youth think they are buying real prescription pills, not realizing they contain deadly fentanyl.

Experts say regulatory action may help, just as it could with other dangers kids face on social media. Legislation has passed the Senate to protect kids from dangerous online content and require reporting of illicit drug activity on platforms to law enforcement. But for parents who have already lost children to overdoses traced to social media dealers, it is too late.

Read more at AP News here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.