Shannon Doyle wears a necklace containing the ashes of her daughter, Makayla Cox, during an interview at her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on June 22, 2022. AFP
VIRGINIA BEACH, United States鈥擬akayla Cox, a high school student in the US state of Virginia, thought she was taking medication that her friend had procured to treat pain and anxiety.
Instead, the pill she took two weeks after her sixteenth birthday was fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. It killed her almost instantly.
After watching a movie 鈥� a prequel to 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� 鈥� with her mother Shannon one evening in January, Makayla appeared fine as she headed to her bedroom with her husky dog that often slept on her bed.
But when Shannon entered Makayla鈥檚 room the next morning, she found her partially sitting up, perched against the headboard, orange fluid coming out of her nose and mouth.
鈥淪he was stiff. I shook her, I screamed her name, I called 911,鈥� Shannon told AFP. 鈥淢y neighbors came over and did CPR, but it was too late. After that, I just don鈥檛 remember much.鈥�
America鈥檚 opioid crisis has reached catastrophic proportions, with over 80,000 people dying of opioid overdoses last year, most of them due to illicit synthetics such as fentanyl 鈥� more than seven times the number a decade ago.
鈥淭his is the most dangerous epidemic that we鈥檝e seen,鈥� said Ray Donovan, chief of operations at the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). 鈥淔entanyl is not like any other illicit narcotic, it鈥檚 that deadly instantaneously.鈥�
And deaths are rising especially quickly among young people, who obtain counterfeit prescription drugs through social media. Unknown to them, the pills come either laced with or made of fentanyl.
In 2019, 493 American adolescents died of drug overdose, in 2021 that figure was 1,146.
Dealers seek teens via apps
鈥淭he Faces of Fentanyl鈥� wall, which displays photos of Americans who died from a fentanyl overdose, at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on July 13, 2022. AFP
Drug dealers reach adolescents on apps such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and others, often using emojis as code.
Oxycodone, an opioid, may be advertised as a half-peeled banana, Xanax, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety, as a chocolate bar, and Adderall, an amphetamine that acts as a stimulant, as a train.
Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the number of Americans doing drugs has largely stayed the same in recent years, but what changed is how deadly they鈥檝e become.
One cup of heroin is equivalent to one teaspoon of fentanyl, and less than one gram can mean the difference between life and death.
鈥淚t takes very small quantities to be a poison that can stop somebody breathing,鈥� Compton told AFP in an interview.
Most of the illicit fentanyl in the United States is manufactured by Mexican drug cartels in clandestine labs from chemicals shipped over from China.
Because fentanyl is much more potent, it takes much less of it to fill a pill, resulting in more supply and more profit to the cartels.
One kilogram of pure fentanyl can be purchased for up to $12,000, pressed into half a million of pills that will sell for up to $30 each, raking in millions of dollars, Donovan said. And it鈥檚 also much easier to smuggle in pill form.
Last year, the DEA seized 15,000 pounds (nearly seven tons) of fentanyl 鈥� enough to kill every American. Four out of 10 seized pills contain lethal quantities of fentanyl.
鈥極ne pill can kill鈥�
A photo of Makayla Cox, who died of a fentanyl overdose at age 16, is displayed on 鈥淭he Faces of Fentanyl鈥� wall, which displays photos of Americans who died from a fentanyl overdose, at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on July 13, 2022. AFP
At the agency鈥檚 headquarters, a collection of photographs titled 鈥淔aces of Fentanyl鈥� hangs in the hallway. It features dozens of portraits of people who recently lost their lives to fentanyl. One of them reads 鈥淢akayla. Forever 16.鈥�
An honor-roll student and a cheerleader, Makayla liked to paint, cuddle with her two huskies, Maize and Malenkai, and planned to go to university to study law, said her mother Shannon Doyle, 41, who works as a paralegal in a loan service firm.
Makayla had battled anxiety after her parents鈥� divorce, but things got worse during the pandemic.
Last summer she started a job at a water park, where she met a friend who introduced her to counterfeit prescription drugs.
The blue pills found in Makayla鈥檚 bed turned out to be 100 percent fentanyl. Police are investigating, but so far no arrests have been made.
鈥淚t used to be that when you were addicted to drugs you had five, 10, 15 years to try and get over your addiction and get the help and change your life,鈥� Shannon said at her house in Virginia Beach, a town on the Atlantic coast some 240 miles (400 kilometers) south of the US capital.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have that chance anymore.鈥�
Last year the DEA launched a campaign called 鈥淥ne pill can kill鈥� to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl, and there are efforts across America to make naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, more easily available, including in schools.
Makayla鈥檚 ashes are in her bedroom and Shannon still peeks into the room every morning and evening, like she did when her daughter was alive.
She started a foundation in Makayla鈥檚 name to help prevent similar tragedies 鈥� a way, she says, helps her cope with her grief.
Makayla鈥檚 best friend Kaydence Blanchard, 16, is spending the summer without her, trying to make good on the dreams the girls had: to get a driver鈥檚 license and drive to the beach.
But for Makayla 鈥渢he future will never happen,鈥� Blanchard said. 鈥淪he will never complete any of the plans that we had together.鈥�
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