The pills you get from your friends could have already changed hands over 10 times.  9  

You can’t tell if they’ve been laced because you can’t see, smell or taste fentanyl.  10–12

It’s impossible to know if it’s been added to your stash.  13

You can’t tell if they’ve been laced because you can’t see, smell or taste fentanyl.  10–12

 It’s impossible to know if it’s been added to your stash. 13

Pills and powders can’t be trusted

Fentanyl is about 100x more powerful than morphine. 14

As of 2025, 1 in 3 pills can contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. 15

Only a few salt-sized grains of fentanyl are deadly. 16, 17

What's being laced?

Drugs have different kinds of street names. You might be familiar with some of them. One thing they all have in common? Many of them are being laced with a deadly dose of fentanyl. 18, 19

Oxycodone

Oxys, M30s, 
Blues, M-boxes


Percocet®

Percs, Perc 30s, Jumps, Skittles,
O.C. Dirty Birds


Adderall®

Addies, Uppers, Bennies, Speed,
Truck Drivers

Xanax®

Xanies, Zanbars, Z-bars

Cocaine

Coke, Crack, Bump, Blow

Benzodiazepines

Benzos, Bars, Bricks

Know how to spot an overdose and stop it from becoming fatal

Save a life

Sources

1. Rate of fatal fentanyl overdose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, February 13). SUDORS dashboard: Fatal drug overdose data.
2. Preventable drug overdose deaths
National Safety Council. (n.d.). Drug overdoses. Injury Facts. 
3. Overdose deaths and emergency room visits in Virginia
Virginia Department of Health. (2025, December 11). Drug overdose emergency department visits by health region.
4. The fentanyl crisis in Virginia
Virginia Department of Health. (2026, April 28). Drug overdose and substance use.
5. 2 in 5 people know someone who has died from overdose
RAND. (2024, February 21). More than 40 percent of Americans know someone who died of drug overdose; 13 percent say deaths have disrupted their lives.
6. Symptoms of oxygen loss to the brain
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, March 8). Cerebral hypoxia.
7. Side effects of a nonfatal overdose
Zibbell, J., Howard, J., Duhart Clarke, S., Ferrell, A., & Karon, S. (2019, September 3). Non-fatal opioid overdose and associated health outcomes: Final summary report. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
8. Opioid overdose can cause brain hypoxia
Mosel, S. (2024, December 16). Brain damage from alcohol and drugs: Are the effects reversible? American Addiction Centers.
9. Illicit pills can change hands 10 times
Mars, S. G., Rosenblum, D., & Ciccarone, D. (2019). Illicit fentanyls in the opioid street market: Desired or imposed?. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 114(5), 774–780.
10. Fentanyl is flooding the opioid supply
Rothberg, R. L., & Stith, K. (2018). Fentanyl: A whole new world?. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics: A Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 46(2), 314–324.
11. Fentanyl is colorless and odorless
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Fentanyl facts.
12. Fentanyl is impossible to see, smell, and taste
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Fentanyl facts.
13. You can’t test for fentanyl without fentanyl test strips
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Fentanyl facts.
14. Fentanyl is about 100x more powerful than morphine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Fentanyl facts.
15. As of 2025, 1 in 3 pills can contain fentanyl
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (2026, January). Counterfeit pills fact sheet.
16. A few salt-sized grains of fentanyl are deadly
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Facts about fentanyl.
17. Fentanyl is often mixed into counterfeit pills
Raheemullah, A., & Andruska, N. (2019). Fentanyl analogue overdose: Key lessons in management in the synthetic opioid age. Journal of Opioid Management, 15(5), 428–432.
18. All types of street drugs are laced with fentanyl
Northwestern University. (n.d.). Fentanyl overdose prevention.
19. Fentanyl is being laced in illicit pills and powders
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). The facts about fentanyl.
20. Fentanyl overdose can look like someone sleeping
Columbia University Irving Medical Center. (n.d.). Fentanyl overdose. ColumbiaDoctors.
21. How to spot signs of fentanyl overdose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 8). Preventing opioid overdose.
22. Naloxone can reverse a fentanyl overdose
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (2026, January). Counterfeit pills fact sheet.
23. Fentanyl is mixed into street drugs because it’s cheap and powerful
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Fentanyl.