Mythical Halloween Candy
It is mind-boggling that our approach to the overdose crisis is so fragmented, with stakeholders often working at cross purposes. You'd think the hemorrhaging of preventable deaths would at least inspire a commitment to a common set of facts, guided by science rather than hearsay or, worse yet, fabrication.
We've all heard the recent Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warning that drug traffickers are deliberately targeting children, employing new marketing strategies intended to "drive addiction amongst kids." The evidence supporting this claim? DEA seizures of brightly colored illicit drugs, dubbed rainbow fentanyl.
It's no surprise that the threat of malicious cartels luring children into addiction with deadly fentanyl "made to look like candy" went viral. Ramping up the fearmongering, the media capitalized on the pending doom with sensational headlines alerting us to narcotic-spiked Halloween candy. It's easy to see why, on the surface, such news could frighten parents, something stoked by DEA agents referring to the pervasive fentanyl-laced candy as "every parent's worst nightmare."
But here's the thing: The seizure of multi-hued illicit drugs doesn't establish the intent to prey on children. In fact, drug policy experts and safety advocates consistently reject the notion. "Colored drugs exist for a lot of reasons none of which have anything to do with marketing to kids at all," said toxicologist, Dr. Ryan Marino.
In agreement, Claire Zagorski—a licensed paramedic and program coordinator at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy—shared her knowledge, "The likeliest explanation is that dealers are simply adding food coloring to their drugs to distinguish their product." Furthermore, the coloring of drugs is far from new, "It's been happening for the last 60 years."
If you think about it, Halloween candy spiked with narcotics makes no sense. After all, drug manufacturing is driven by profits, dealers don't give drugs away, and kids don't have money. Adamant in refuting the DEA claim is the director of research and academic engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance, Sheila Vakharia, who told NPR that colors can be used to "mimic legitimate prescription medications"—never to lure kids. In fact, Dr. Vakharia says that calling illicit drugs "rainbow" or "candy-like" is done to evoke association with children and instill unfounded fear.
She is not alone. Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, a pharmaceutical scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, sees this panic as designed to mislead, stating that the DEA's premise "was so divorced from any reality. . . that it was almost laughable that our country's top drug enforcement folks are so out of touch." The fact that news outlets are pushing this story without any evidence or verification from experts is "irresponsible” and “reprehensible," Dasgupta told Salon. “It's exactly the kind of behavior that leads to misinformation and detracts from the very real public health dangers that we can and should be focused on.”
No one denies that fentanyl can be dangerous—it killed my own son who, like countless others, suffered punishment in lieu of much-needed health care, compounding his lifelong struggle with disabilities. In time, with grit and determination, he gradually overcame enough hurdles to land a full-time job and live independently. Then he relapsed. Terrified of losing his footing, he turned to me and, together, we sought options—the emergency room, in-patient treatment, out-patient therapy, medication. One barrier after another precluded needed support. Without any help, or awareness that his resistance was down, he overdosed and died.
I can't help comparing the financial resources allocated to directly support people who are suffering to those dedicated to criminalization and fighting the war on drugs. It's not pretty. We have evolved in the last year—with great fanfare—to provide some federal funding to support services proven to save lives. Even so, it's less than .5% of the federal drug control budget meaning the likelihood of changing our still-rising death toll is beyond remote.
What's needed isn't a closely guarded secret: We must build a bridge between research and policy, shifting the focus away from criminalization. As urged in the 2022 Overdose Epidemic Report by the American Medical Association,
To improve patient outcomes and stop people from dying of a drug-related overdose, the nation’s policymakers, payers, physicians, and other stakeholders must work together to remove all barriers to evidence-based care. Preventable deaths and other harms continue because of multiple, overlapping public health and public policy half-measures. We all must commit to meaningful enforcement of mental health and substance use disorder parity laws, removal of inappropriate and misapplied prescribing restrictions, and make increased strides to support harm reduction initiatives in every state.
The disconnect explains why the DEA announcement provoked anger among scientists and addiction experts. "This misleading information," Dr. Marino believes, "is part of an agenda to strengthen support for the war on drugs by spreading outrage." Mariah Francis, a resource associate with the National Harm Reduction Coalition, concurs that such warnings are divorced from reality and are, “a byproduct of drug policies that prioritize criminalization and political agendas over active harm reduction."
What's clear is the absence of "togetherness" among those who have a stake in this epidemic. ”While rainbow fentanyl may dominate the drug news cycle, there are other issues affecting drug users that need more attention," stated Leo Beletsky, Northeastern professor in the School of Law and Health Sciences. "Misinformation can become a barrier to getting effective treatment," a labyrinth he calls a "consumer nightmare.” As the national dialogue shifts the focus to treatment over incarceration, “it’s in [the DEA’s] interest to create these kinds of panics to stay funded."
I can attest to the harms of criminalizing those who use drugs when health care and education are needed as I can to the "consumer nightmare" of pleading for desperately needed help. But as it is, our default favors surveillance, policing, and punishment tactics over healthy communities. Federal funds would be better spent on strategies grounded in science and human rights, but I guess it's easier to blame the supply of drugs than it is to address the reasons for the demand for drugs, something that would require examining where we could have failed the people who suffer.
We have a long way to go. But at least we can rest easy that our children won't get bags of fentanyl candy on Halloween.
[photo by Colton Sturgeon]