Police warns “rainbow fentanyl” on the rise to target youth

Rainbow Fentanyl is on the rise and targeting young people to get them addicted early. Photo: Drug Enforcement Agency

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Police Department (PCPD) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is sending a big message to parents about the dangers of a “rainbow fentanyl” that is on the rise.

The drug, designed to be colorful and look like candy, has an “alarming presence” according to a statement by the DEA, and is being used as a tactic to target younger people, even children.

“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.  “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”

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The DEA also mentioned the pill has been seized in many different forms, even blocks that look like sidewalk chalk.

Fentanyl is an extremely strong opioid. According to the DEA its potency is 50 times higher than heroine and 100 times higher than morphine. What’s even scarier, is there is zero ability to know the concentration of the fentanyl someone has ingested unless it has undergone lab testing.

The statistics show an alarming rate of deaths with fentanyl as the confirmed cause, with 71,030 in 2021 alone.

Police are asking if the public discovers fentanyl in any form, or believes it to be, to please not touch it, and instead call 911 immediately.

To read more, visit the DEA website.