BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — As students across Alabama return to school, federal drug enforcement leaders are cautioning parents that the most dangerous threat to their children may not be in the classroom, but online and potentially hidden in plain sight at home.
Steven Hofer, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Special Agent in Charge for the New Orleans Division, emphasized the alarming impact of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is now the leading cause of death for adults aged 18 to 45, according to information from the CDC. “It’s pretty alarming when you think about how big of a demographic that is and you’re taking out car accidents, gun violence, disease, for drug overdoses to still be the number one cause of death,” Hofer said.
Hofer urged families to remain alert, informed, and engaged, especially as students go back to school or head off to college and encounter new social circles. “You have students going off to college for the first time, being away from the household all day and staying there at the college, so that becomes this opportunity to find new friends and run in new circles and that can really be dangerous if kids and young adults don’t have the information about making the healthy choices,” he said…