DEA: Discuss deadly threat of fentanyl with youth
SHERIDAN (WNE) — With the 2026-27 school either underway or on the horizon in Wyoming counties, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division staff is encouraging parents and teachers to reinforce the dangers of fentanyl.
The DEA urges parents and educators during the back-to-school season to have a discussion with their children and students about the dangers of drugs – fentanyl in particular.
Just two milligrams of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that leads to respiratory failure — is considered a fatal dose.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45. Opioids kill more than 200 Americans every day, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse.
In 2025, 1,813 Coloradans died of a drug overdose. Utah, Montana, and Wyoming recorded nearly 800 overdose deaths.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control indicates nationwide fentanyl death rates have decreased, but of great concern are Colorado's death rates, which have increased 14%, all according to a press release from the DEA.
One of every six fentanyl pills seized in the U.S. had been seized in the Rocky Mountain Field Division. Most of those seizures were in Colorado. Across the RMFD, Interstates 25 and 70 remain fentanyl pill superhighways.
"Since the first of the year, our division has already seized millions of fatal doses of fentanyl, in addition to hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine," said DEA RMFD Acting Special Agent in Charge Miguel Chino. "There should be an alarm going off in every parent's mind as school campuses welcome students back. (Taking) even half of a pill at a party or on school grounds could be a fatal mistake. Fentanyl knows no boundaries."
Learn more at www.DEA.gov/fentanylfree.
This story was published on August 19, 2026.
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