Illicit fentanyl remains a killer in disguise. We need better education on narcotics now | Opinion

As a result of a national settlement with the makers of opioids, there will be billions of dollars available to try to reverse the opioid crisis in the United States, which began in the 1990s and was responsible for more than 75,000 deaths nationwide in the last 12-month period measured by the CDC. Tragically, according to a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, analysis of data from the CDC showed that deaths involving fentanyl among high schoolers ages 14-18 grew 169% in 2020 — more than any other age group that year.

There are, of course, differing opinions on how to best spend this money and on what. But most people would agree that education is critical — and the sooner, the better for young people old enough to understand the dangers of the use of psychoactive substances.