for teens
& Young
Adults
Illegally made fentanyl now dominates the street drug supply, causing record numbers of youth drug deaths in America. We will tell you what you need to know to stay safe.
How to Get Started
Open AllWHAT TO KNOW
Fentanyl is now involved in more youth drug deaths than any other drug. Learn how the drug landscape has changed in recent years and why drug use, even is more dangerous than ever before.
Get the FactsFentanyl Basics
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is commonly used in medical settings. But drug traffickers also sell illicitly-made fentanyl all across the US, and it is being found in just about every street drug being sold today.
Watch Fentanyl Basics Video
What to Do
Healthy Ways to Cope
In a perfect world we could live stress free; but, unfortunately today most teenagers and young adults are experiencing extreme amounts of stress.
The effects of stress are, well, stressful themselves. Unfortunately this creates an endless cycle that teens and young adults aren’t yet ready to handle. We have developed two pathways of healthy coping skills. Skills over Pills and Pharm over Pharma. Click the links before to learn more.
Reach Out To:
NEED HELP? Everybody needs help from time to time. If you’re experiencing depression or anxiety, if you’re unable to sleep or enjoy life, or if you’re turning to alcohol or drugs to cope with stress, it’s time to ask for help.
1. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Your university’s mental health services
2. THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION HELPLINE:
Call 1-800-662-HELP
3. DOCTOR/THERAPIST
Contact a doctor or therapist
4. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STRESS
5. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE
Call 1-800-273-8255
Signs of
An Opioid
Overdose
An overdose is usually not a dramatic event and recognizing the signs of opioid overdose is essential to saving lives. Call 911 immediately if a person exhibits ANY of the following symptoms (according to CDC):
Pupils
Small, constricted ’pinpoint pupils”
Breathe
Slow, shallow breathing
Consciousness
Falling asleep or lack of consciousness
Choking
Choking or gurgling noises
Body
Body goes limp
Skin
Pale, blue, or cold skin
Responding to an Opioid Overdose
Time is critical when someone is experiencing an opioid overdose. If a person experiencing an overdose stops breathing, they can die within a matter of minutes. If you think someone is overdosing, administer naloxone if you have it, and call 911 immediately. Do not leave the person alone.
Naxolone
(aka Narcan)
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist medication that is used to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. Narcan can quickly restore breathing to a person who is experiencing an overdose, but has no effect on a person who does not have opioids in their system.
How to Obtain Naxolone:
- Check your local pharmacy/health department
- Free narcan/naloxone and training at End Overdose
- Get Naloxone Now
- Find Naloxone Near You
How to Administer Naxolone:
- How to Administer Naloxone/ Narcan Video
- NARCAN® Nasal Spray 4mg Instructions for Use
- Naloxone Administration
- How to Use Narcan
- First Aid for Opioid Overdoses Online Course
- How to Reverse an Opioid Overdose with Naloxone

Good
Samaritan
laws
Quickly getting help for a person experiencing an opioid overdose can be a matter of life and death. To encourage people to call for help, almost all states have Good Samaritan Laws in place to protect callers reporting an overdose. Understand the laws in your state, and if ever in doubt, CALL FOR HELP. In the event of an overdose, timely response is critical.
Toolkits
Student Assemblies
Student assemblies can be an impactful way to ensure all of your students are informed of the dangers of the fake prescription pills they can easily get online, and to get them talking about this danger with their peers. If possible, we recommend finding someone who has been impacted by fake pills firsthand to talk to your students… affected parents or siblings, DEA agents, law enforcement, counselors, etc. If you are looking for someone local to your area contact realtalk@songforcharlie.org, and we may be able to help. If you don’t have a local person’s testimony, you can still have a powerful student assembly by using one of the below impact stories and the centerpiece of your assembly.
Suggested agenda for student assembly:
- Personal Story – Testimonial by local family affected by fentanyl or select from one of the impact story videos.
- ‘Fentapills- You Need to Know’ (4 minutes)
- Natural High- Fentanyl PSA film (6 minutes)
- Cal’s Story
- Video of teens who have died of fentanyl poisoning (can be played as audience is entering room)
- Video of recent HS graduates who have died of fentanyl poisoning (can be played as audience is entering room)
- Zach’s Story
- Charlie’s Story
- Wyatt’s Story
- Eli’s story
- Today’s Drug Landscape- Presentation by local affected family member or law enforcement personnel to summarize what is going on with fake pills made of fentanyl being sold on social media. Resources for drug landscape presentation can be found here.
- How to report drug dealers on social media
- Mental Health/School Counseling- Mental Health and Coping Update
- Q&As
The topics of drug use and drug deaths can be triggering to some people. We encourage schools to have counselors on hand in case any students are in need of counselors after the presentation.
Following is an example of a high school presentation:
https://www.songforcharlie.org/sample-presentation-for-students
Community Conversations/Town Halls
We recommend that schools and other organizations also host community conversations or town hall meetings to educate students, parents, and other community members about the changes in the drug landscape and the risks today’s youth are facing. As with the student assemblies, we recommend trying to have a speaker who has first-hand experience with fake prescription pills if possible. Town halls can be conducted in person, but we also have seen many communities have wide-reaching success with zoom events. Choose whichever approach you think will work best for your community.
- Today’s Drug Landscape – Presentation by local affected family member or law enforcement personnel to summarize what is going on with fake pills made of fentanyl being sold on social media. Resources for drug landscape presentation can be found here.
- How to report drug dealers on social media
- Mental Health/School Counseling- Mental Health and Coping Update
- Q&As
Organizations may also want to provide parents training on the social media apps their kids are using and how to monitor their kids. Depending on timing, this may be best if presented in a separate forum.
Sample Community Conversations:
Educate Classroom Teachers, Coaches & Administrators
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Teachers, coaches and administrators have a big influence on students and students are more likely to internalize a message when they hear it repeatedly, so we encourage schools to integrate mental health, safe medicine use, fake pill, and substance use into their lesson plans and discussions whenever there is an opportunity. Normalizing discussions also help to remove stigmas around these topics and make it easier for kids to discuss them if they are having issues.
Following are some ideas of how these topics can be integrated into normal classroom discussions:-
Math/Science: create problems using statistics regarding teen mental health and substance use, brain research, ‘happiness chemicals’, science of addiction…
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Humanities: Initiate discussions regarding state & local news, historical drug and prohibition policies, narratives and literature about coping and mental health…
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Health/Coaches: Regularly discuss mental health as a component of overall health, trust/relationship with medical professionals and medicine, dangers of fake pills, where to ask for help…
The possibilities are endless… ask your teachers what they can do to incorporate these messages into their regular lessons.
Following are some good resources for teachers/coaches:
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The Coach’s Playbook Against Drugs (U.S. Department of Justice)
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Get Smart About Drugs- A DEA Resource for Parents, Educators & Caregivers
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https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health?tag/resources/education/index.html
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Mental Health First Aid Training form the National Council for Mental Wellbeing
College Resources:
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Social Media Campaign
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We encourage schools/districts to post warnings across their social media accounts, including those managed by students.
Social media content is available for free at: https://www.songforcharlie.org/social-media-content
Content can be freely pulled from Song for Charlie’s social media accounts and used on your own social media sites:
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Snapchat: Song for Charlie
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Instagram: song4charlie
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TikTok: songforcharlie
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Facebook/Meta: facebook.com/songforcharlie
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Twitter: @SongforCharlie
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YouTube: youtube.com/songforcharlie
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Pinterest: @songforcharlie
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Linkedin: Song for Charlie
Beaverton School District’s free Fake & Fatal social media campaign material can also be obtained by sending a request to community_involvement@beaverton.k12.or.us.
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Posters/Flyers/Stickers
We encourage schools to display posters/flyers around the school and/or send them home in parent newsletters. Song for Charlie offers free posters/flyers/stickers, digital and for print, for anyone to use.
Posters made by students are also – students talking to students in their own language is one of the most effective ways to get through to school aged-kids.
Student-led Activities
Students talking to students about the dangers of fentanyl might be the most impactful method of getting this message across. Students in districts across the nation have taken action to raise awareness in their communities in the following ways:
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Redwood Bark, the Redwood High School (Larkspur, CA) student newspaper, featured a story “One pill can kill: Addiction, loss, and fentnayl” by Taylor Elliott and Keely Ganong. The article shared the stories of Trevor Leopold and Alex Movahedi, two former Redwood students who died of fentanyl poisoning.
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The student government class at Vista Del Lago High School in Folsom, CA listened to the testimony of parents who lost their son Zachary to fentanyl and planned an awareness campaign that included lawn signs, t-thirts, and more. Their campaign was featured on their local evening news.
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Students at Whitney High School (Rocklin, CA) interviewed parents of young fentanyl victims for broadcasting class.
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Students in many schools have created posters & yard signs to raise awareness. Post in bathroom stalls, hallways, school parking lots… wherever there are teens who need to know!
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We’re Fighting Fake Pills, an article in Scholastic Choices Magazine, features three youth who are spreading awareness in their communities.
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A group of students wrote a play for their drama club to perform.
The possibilities are endless. Talk to your student leadership or other student groups to ask what they would do to raise awareness!
School Fentanyl News
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How 3 districts are addressing student fentanyl use, K-12 Dive, Feb 14, 2023
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Districts Are Stocking Up on Naloxone But Often Ignoring Drug Prevention, Education Week, Jan 23, 2023
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Ed Department webinar shares risks, solutions for teen fentanyl use, K-12 Dive, Jan 18, 2023
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Fighting fentanyl: Schools tackle opioid crisis head-on, K-12 Dive, Oct 26, 2022
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Why Districts Are Stocking Naloxone in Response to the Opioid Crisis, Education Week, Oct 10, 2022
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Overdoses at School: One School District’s Response to the Fentanyl Crisis, Education Week, Sept 30, 2022
State Resources
Swag
Kids like swag, and they can be a good reminder of the important messages kids learn. If you would like some Song for Charlie wristbands to hand out to students at your school, contact merch@songforcharlie.org at least 4 weeks before the event, and we will do our best to provide you some wristbands.
Free Song for Charlie Resources
These free resources are available to people wanting to educate their young adult communities about fentanyl and other synthetic drugs found in today’s illicit drug supply.
Note: These resources are free as long as Song for Charlie is being identified as the source and they are not included in programs being sold. Click here for detailed terms of use.
Song for Charlie Facts About Fentanyl
Song for Charlie Posters & Flyers
Song for Charlie Sample Presentation to Students/Resources
Content can be freely pulled from Song for Charlie’s social media accounts and used on your own social media sites:
- Snapchat: Song for Charlie
- Instagram: song4charlie
- TikTok: songforcharlie
- Facebook/Meta: facebook.com/songforcharlie
- Twitter: @SongforCharlie
- YouTube: youtube.com/songforcharlie
- Pinterest: @songforcharlie
- LinkedIn: Song for Charlie
Video Resources:
- “Fentapills – You Need to Know” (English, 4 minutes)
- “Fentapills – You Need to Know” (with Spanish subtitles, 4 minutes)
- “One Pill: The Dangers of Fentanyl” (English, 8 minutes)
- “One Pill: The Dangers of Fentanyl” (with Spanish subtitles, 8 minutes)
- Real Talk Video Series (4 x 1.5 minutes each)
Misc Other College Level Resources
The Real Deal on Fentanyl – Ad Council awareness campaign resources
Misc Short Awareness Videos
Farm-to-Friend | A Dose of Truth
No Drama No Help | Over The Dose
Not A Day Goes By | A Dose of Truth
The Usual | A Dose of Truth
Harm Reduction Programs
Team Awareness Combatting Overdose (TACO)
Examples of fentanyl awareness & programs on college campuses:
- University of Colorado
- University of Michigan
- Stanford University
- University of Denver
- Colorado State University
- The Ohio State University
- Princeton University
- USC:
- UT Austin Shift
- UT Austin Operation Naloxone
- University of Georgia
- VCU: Free Naloxone Bike
- WVU: West Virginia University students form task force for educating peers on dangers of fentanyl
DEA Content
2022 Red Ribbon Week Campus Video PSA Contest | Campus Drug Prevention
Campus Drug Prevention One Pill Program
Misc College Level Awareness Ideas
- Implement a Team Awareness Combatting Overdose (TACO) chapter at your school.
- Have pop-up naloxone distribution centers.
- Provide overdose reversal kits to students.
- Create overdose reversal kits with naloxone and place them in central places around campus (similar to defibrillators & fire extinguishers).
- Put fentanyl/fake pill posters around campus- in dorms, on back of bathroom stall doors, in student center, at sports complexes, etc.
- If health center distributes prescriptions, include fake pill warning with every prescription dispensed.
- Make fake pill awareness (via flyer, video, etc) required for anyone receiving mental health help through student health center.
- Install naloxone vending machines (as done at the Ann Arbor District Library by www.homeofnewvision.org)
- Consider making naloxone and fentanyl test strips available at student centers, requiring students to watch an informational video to receive items.
- Consider fentanyl test strip pop-ups with training & discussion.
- Have greek system create an awareness campaign.
- Include fentanyl awareness training as a part of freshman orientation.
- Make fentanyl awareness, naloxone & FTS training a part of all residential assistant (RA) training.
Have RA’s show “You Need to Know” video to all students on their floor, and lead discussion.
Social Media Campaign
We encourage everyone to post warnings across their social media accounts.
Social media content is available for free at: https://www.songforcharlie.org/social-media-content
Content can be freely pulled from Song for Charlie’s social media accounts and used on your own social media sites:
- Snapchat: Song for Charlie
- Instagram: song4charlie
- TikTok: songforcharlie
- Facebook/Meta: facebook.com/songforcharlie
- Twitter: @SongforCharlie
- YouTube: youtube.com/songforcharlie
- Pinterest: @songforcharlie
- Linkedin: Song for Charlie
The Problem
- Don’t buy that pill, Son: How the Mayos are fighting the fentanyl crisis (RebelGrove.com, November 2022)
- Nightline Hidden Epidemic: US fentanyl crisis worsen– 1st person account of college student having OD (Nightline, September 2022)
- Medical examiner rules death of UNT student in March was accidental fentanyl ingestion (Denton Record-Chronicle, August 2022)
- Coming wave of opioid overdoses ‘will be worse (Northwestern Now, July 2022)
- Two College Students Dead As Fake Pills Laced With Fentanyl Plague The U.S. (NBC News, May 2022)
- Students hand out fentanyl testing strips to colleges to prevent overdoses (NBC News, May 2022)
- UNO student died from fentanyl poisoning after Uber ride, coroner’s office says (WBRZ, April 2022)
- Student’s fatal dose of fentanyl was bought on the dark web (Daily Post, April 2022)
- Fentanyl: Why the potent drug poses a big threat to students, colleges (University Business, March 2022)
- West Point cadets overdose on fentanyl while on spring break in South Florida, police say (Washington Post, March 2022)
- ‘Don’t even know what they’re taking’: Students fatally OD on fentanyl-laced drugs (WISN, March 2022)
- 2 UW-Milwaukee students overdosed on campus in 2021, their parents are critical of the university’s response (WTMJ, January 2022)
- Fentanyl-laced counterfeits of prescription pills make non-prescribed pills a life-or-death gamble (Indiana Daily Student, December 2021)
- Texas Longhorns linebacker Jake Ehlinger died of accidental overdose, family says (KXAN, October 2021)
- Drug overdoses claim lives of four USC students within three weeks last semester (USCAnnenbergMedia, February 2020)
- Dealers who sold fatal drugs to UNR students sentenced to prison, probation (Reno Gazette Journal, December 2019)
May be behind paywall:
Fentanyl’s Ubiquity Inflames America’s Drug Crisis (WSJ, September 2022)
7th LAUSD teen overdoses from possible fentanyl-laced pills (LA Times, Sept 2022)
Fentanyl Tainted Pills Bought on Social Media Cause Youth Drug Deaths to Soar (NYT, May 2022)
A Note About Harm Reduction
Data show that many youth are unaware of or misunderstand the fentanyl problem. Accurate perception of harm has been shown to be a protective factor. Therefore, Song for Charlie believes greater education and awareness of the fentanyl problem for youth in particular will reduce harm.
Song for Charlie recognizes that one-size-fits-all approaches often aren’t optimal. Some of the content in this particular toolkit may not fit with policies and practices of organizations serving younger audiences.
The goal of harm reduction is to protect the health and lives of people, even if they choose to use substances. Song for Charlie focuses on protecting the health and lives of young people from the risks associated with illicit drug use especially in today’s synthetic and deceptive landscape, where harm reduction has been shown to play a valuable role.
It is not unusual for colleges and universities to offer both harm reduction messages (i.e. limiting binge drinking) and harm reduction interventions (i.e. naloxone and fentanyl test strip distribution). Given little available evidence around the effectiveness and interplay between primary prevention education and specific harm reduction interventions for younger ages where illicit substance use is less common than in the general population, we do not promote many harm reduction interventions for K-12 ages. However, we recognize that illicit drug use is more common in college age youth, as are individual agency and decision making capabilities. Therefore, we include more harm reduction messages and interventions for this age group.