Oregon City school leaders say fentanyl crisis is worse than ever

OREGON CITY, Ore. (KPTV) - Fentanyl has made headlines for years but school officials say the crisis now is even more dire than it was two years ago.

The Oregon City School District hosted a fentanyl forum at Oregon City High School to educate the community on the crisis it’s facing. Police say teens are purchasing pills like Adderall, Percocet, and Xanax through social media but are getting deadly counterfeits. The counterfeits are often made with fentanyl.

According to the DEA, about six out of 10 fake pills contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl.

Oregon City School Board member Michele Stroh was among those who addressed the group Tuesday night. She lost her son Keaton to a drug overdose in 2020. She says he took what he thought was oxycontin but instead got a deadly dose of fentanyl. She says, “what used to be a try and you might like it, you might get addicted, is now try and you’ll die.”

Police say teens are often looking for what they think are real pharmaceutical pills to deal with anxiety or other mental health struggles, but they end up with counterfeit pills. Officers say kids are dying from a lack of information and they urge parents to talk about the crisis with their kids.

Copyright 2023 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.