The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning the public of a deadly new trend: Colorful pills tainted with illicit fentanyl and sold by "drug cartels" that are "made to look like candy to children and young people." Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is driving drug overdose deaths in America, although multiple drugs play a role in the crisis that has killed 109,000 people in the 12 months since March 2022.
"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," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a press release published August 30. Their claims echoes similar statements made by law enforcement earlier this summer, such as a Facebook post by Placer County, California, District Attorney Morgan Gire, who claimed "this rainbow-colored substance is one of the many tools that dealers are using to make the poison appeal to our kids."
