♪ ♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, deadly epidemic. inside the opioid crisis with fentanyl sweeping america. >> everyone thinks that, oh, it's not going to happen to me, how could it be me? >> unsuspecting teens among the tens of thousands of young lives lost. >> we are now in the worst overdose epidemic in united states history. fighting back against the dealers. investigating the cartels and the seemingly endless supply of fentanyl. >> we seized over 10 million fake pills and 982 pounds of fentanyl powder. >> we're with the team spreading awareness and saving lives. >> he is alive today because we were able to educate his friends

around him. so that when he did overdose, they were prepared to respond. >> what the everyone should know about the dangers of this deadly drug. "nightline," "hidden epidemic," will be right back. it has built-in technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell first day fresh for 50 days. la la la la la. ♪♪ it's macy's vip sale... with an extra 30% off top designer looks. plus 15% off fragrances, skincare, makeup and more... now at macy's.

♪ thanks for joining us. tonight, a deadly drug epidemic sweeping across the country, snuffing out young lives.

fentanyl is an equal opportunity killer. it knows no race, gender, or socioeconomic status. the unsuspecting are easy targets. abc's zohreen shah leads us off tonight. >> it definitely took a minute for me to process everything. i kind of sat back and realized the significance of almost losing my life. >> reporter: after his brush with death, this 20-year-old college student in southern california has a dire warning. >> everyone thinks that, oh, it's not going to happen to me, how could it be me? but it's when you start becoming careless like that, that it can be you. >> reporter: on a friday night last month, near his college campus, like many young adults his age he went to a party. >> it was just towards the beginning. my friend and i were like, hey, we should try this drug. a terrible decision. >> did it come from a place that

you trusted someone you knew? >> yeah, just like any other college student gets handed this. through a friend or you get a contact from someone else where it spreads throughout the grapevine. it really becomes accessible anywhere you go. >> reporter: charlie, who asked us to not use his real name, thought he was taking a common party drug. but the drug brought him crashing down. >> you took the drug. then what happens? >> well, i went to one of the rooms, and then my friend walked in. he started talking to me. and he said, "hey, you know, how are you doing, are you excited for the rest of tonight?" and i just kind of looked back at him and i said, "you know, i don't feel so good right now." and that's i think what immediately raised concern. and i believe i passed out, like, right after that. >> reporter: he was near death, minutes away from becoming a grim statistic. one of the growing number of

young people who have unwittingly ingested drugs laced with the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin. you could have lost your life. >> yeah, and i'm sure there's many other students across the country who have lost their lives. >> reporter: it's a crisis of epic proportions. drug users who think they are buying prescription pills like vicodin, percocet, oxy, or even adderall. but the pills are fake and often contain fentanyl. >> we are now in the worst overdose epidemic in united states history. >> he was on the floor, in the bathroom, not breathing. >> there are so many casualties. and all of it is so preventible. >> reporter: according to the cdc, fentanyl was the leading cause for the record number of drug poisonings and overdose deaths in america last year. more than 71,000 deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. >> what drugs did they take, what drugs? >> reporter: in the past 36 hours, officers in las vegas responded to at least four deaths that they say are connected to fentanyl.

meanwhile, the opioid continues to flood the illicit drug market. last week police in phoenix, arizona, seized more than 1 million fentanyl pills while executing a search warrant. the u.s. drug enforcement administration announcing agents have seized a historic amount of fentanyl since may. >> we seized over 10 million fake pills and 982 pounds of fentanyl powder across all 50 states. that is enough to kill 36 million americans. >> reporter: officials pointing the finger squarely at the mexican drug cartels for trafficking the pills across our borders. >> these cartels are responsible for virtually all of the fentanyl, and they currently dominate the worldwide fentanyl distribution and supply chain. >> reporter: the avenue for dispensing these drugs, social media.

the dea saying nearly 130 investigations are linked to social media platforms, like snapchat, where buying drugs is as easy as sending the right emoji to a so-called plug, a dealer who finds customers on these apps. in a statement released by snapchat, the company says it's proactively detecting illicit drug content and shutting down drug dealers who abuse our platform and partnering with expert organizations to educate snapchatters about the horrific dangers of fentanyl. a growing hurdle for authorities, brightly colored rainbow fentanyl pills that are otherwise similar to any other fentanyl pill being seized in at least 20 states since february. >> psychologically, looking at something that is nice in color, a person right away doesn't think, this can kill me. they think, okay, you know, let me take this, you know, have a good time. >> reporter: we spoke with two gang and narcotic detectives with lapd. they're both in shadow because of their undercover work. >> every socioeconomic type is

affected also. whether you're rich or poor. whether you're just the average joe or a celebrity or athlete. we're all affected with fentanyl overdoses. >> reporter: they are now urging residents in the l.a. area who suspect their drugs are laced or replaced with fentanyl to turn them in to the station. >> you don't necessarily have to tell them that you purchased them for the reason of you were going to use it, but i would encourage somebody to turn in those pills and maybe get a narcotic investigator to follow up and try to get that dealer. >> reporter: families who have been impacted by the crisis now desperate for solutions. >> there's got to be other means and other ways that we're educating our children in a very, very serious way. not just, don't do drugs. we tried that. >> reporter: laura brinker and matt white lost their

17-year-old son, conner white, to fentanyl poisoning in may of last year. >> he thought it was percocet. it was a blue pill with "m30" on it. >> it was not a dozen pills in a bag, it was one pill. >> conner was an honors student at san diego high school where matt is a teacher. >> it was around 9:45. and he was supposed to be at my class, and he wasn't there. we live, you know, literally four minutes from campus. and i saw his car in front of the house. i went into the bathroom. and he was -- he was on the floor in the bathroom, not breathing. and i immediately called 911. and started -- started with cpr. it was too late. >> i asked if i could just give him one more hug. and they said, "no, you can't

touch your son." after that, he was taken away. >> over the past few weeks, nine students overdosed on fentanyl. that has been reported to us. one died. that's just unacceptable anywhere in today's america. >> reporter: alberto cavahlo knows the struggle to find solutions as superintendent of the l.a. school district. you said it's only the tip of the iceberg. what do you think the real problem looks like? >> i cannot quantify it, but i can tell you it's much bigger, much more disturbing than what's reported. >> reporter: two weeks ago, a tragedy at one of his high schools. >> these are not overdoses, these are people who have been poisoned. one pill can kill. >> reporter: 15-year-old melanie ramos found dead on the floor of the girls' bathroom after hours. the cause, fentanyl poisoning. police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with melanie's death. he stands accused of selling her the fentanyl-laced pill and faces a possible manslaughter

charge. >> the community felt melanie and this epidemic as far more deadly than many of us understand it to be. it is a silent killer. >> reporter: carvalho is not taking any chances if it can save even one life. >> this is not unique to los angeles. it is a national scourge. but there's something we can do about this issue in our community. >> reporter: just days after melanie's death, he announced that naloxone, commonly known as narcan, a medicine used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, would soon be available at all k-12 schools across the district. nurses and other staff at all 1,400 campuses will also be trained in administering this life-saving medicine. nurses, they are used to dealing with scrapes and bruises, kids with allergies, with covid. are we now expecting nurses to also administer drugs for toxic poisonings?

>> it's a sad new reality, but consider the alternative. i think the presence of narcan in our schools is a life-saving necessity at this point. >> reporter: charlie knows he's one of the lucky survivors. in the midst of his overdose last month, a quick-thinking friend called for help and swiftly administered narcan. >> thank god that i was surrounded with the people that were there, thank god my friends were there, thank god that i have smart friends. you know? >> reporter: he's also thankful for a youth-led organization called taco which aims to combat drug overdose deaths among young adults. he says they saved his life. >> without them, i don't know if anybody around me would know how to administer narcan or have access to narcan in the first place. >> he's alive because we were able to educate the friends around him. so that when he did overdose, they were prepared to respond. >> reporter: in addition to

educating fellow students on the hazards of accidental fentanyl consumption, madeline hilliard and her taco team have provided tens of thousands of test strips that indicate when drugs contain fentanyl. >> they're not 100% effective but they are highly effective from what we've seen. >> why are so many people concerned about these test strips? >> people do have the perception that if you're giving people fentanyl test strips that you're encouraging them to use drugs. but what we see is when people use fentanyl test strips, immediately, they're now aware that fentanyl is a risk, so please proceed with caution, test your drugs, don't use alone, and carry narcan. >> it's inevitable that college students are going to come across these drugs. it's just becoming more and more integrated into drugs across the country. >> reporter: for charlie, his near-death experience has him swearing off drugs entirely. what have your conversations been like with loved ones and friends? >> i've just been telling my friends, you know, don't do any drugs. and if you really do feel

inclined to do so, please test it. i mean, without being given narcan, without being given access to taco or any of the these resources, i wouldn't be here to share my story, and i don't want that to happen to anybody else. >> our thanks to zohreen. where is the fentanyl coming from? and how law enforcement is fighting back. ent it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb.

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♪ earlier i spoke to dea administrator anne milgram and

acting principal deputy director dr. deborah auery. thank you for joining us. anne, let me begin with you. you gave a major press conference just today. once again, sounding the alarm on the fentanyl crisis. what's the most urgent headline out of today's update? >> one of the things that we really want people to understand is that the greatest threat in our communities, our families, for our kids right now, are the two cartels that are operating in mexico that are responsible for the fentanyl that is poisoning americans at record and catastrophic rates. 107,622 lives lost over the past year between may and earlier this september. we have done 390 investigations, 35 of those directly linked to those cartels. so we are working across the world, and particularly in this operation across the united states, to take the individuals responsible for the fentanyl poisoning, as well as the fentanyl pills and the fentanyl powder, off the street. >> obviously with that interjection, you're trying to stem the flow. we've profiled so many

unsuspecting teenagers falling victim to fentanyl. how is social media being used to sell drugs online and how are you combating that? >> 390 investigations, 129 had direct links to social media platforms. and often as part of those investigations, to multiple platforms. snapchat, also instagram, also facebook. they are selling fake pills on social media. so they make the pills look as though they're real oxycontin or real percocet or real hydro codone. but they're not, they're all fentanyl and filler. >> doctor, we've heard tragic stories like the one of the college student overdosing who was saved by his friend. you're not just a cdc official, you're also an e.r. doctor. tell us what the signs are to look for when someone is overdosing. >> so one of the concerns about using fentanyl like the dea administrator mentioned is how quickly you can overdose, how it just takes a little bit. someone can stop breathing very

quickly. and this is when you can use naloxone to help reverse that overdose. i keep naloxone in my purse. i think everybody should be aware of that, how do you save a life and reverse an overdose? >> we reported on the fact that k-12 schools now are taking matters into their own hands, keeping narcan on hand. do you think that's what we've come to, that parents should consider carrying it themselves? >> i think parents could do a few things. the first is to have those tough cnversations with their child at home, to not use drugs. if you are using drugs, to tell your parent so you can get help. and parents should consider carrying naloxone around to save their child's life or somebody else's life. in my mind, it's like diabetes. with insulin, making sure you are always there to protect someone that might have an issue. somebody's got an overdose, you've got naloxone that you can use. talk to your child and be safe. be thoughtful and be ready.

>> and in today's press conference, you mentioned rainbow fentanyl, that that is largely driven by marketing. why are you so convinced that these pills are being targeted to kids? >> there are a few points on rainbow fentanyl that i think are critical. the first is that the same two cartels, the sinaloa cartel and the cjng or jalisco cartel are responsible for all the deadly fentanyl flooding into the united states, they are also responsible for the rainbow pills and the powder that is different colors. they're being mass produced by those cartels using chemicals sourced from china. it's really important to understand that rainbow fentanyl is fentanyl and it is deadly. we've seized fake fentanyl pills in all 50 states, 202 cities. rainbow fentanyl, the dealers working with the cartels on social media refer to them as "sweet tarts" or "skittles." they look like they're candy. we believe that they are being

marketed to younger people as a new -- as essentially a new type of either fake pill or a new type of party drug. but we know that it is being directed towards younger people. and to try to expand the cartels' audiences and customers in the united states. >> right. dr. aurey, on that note, we know teens experiment with drugs. as a parent, what do you tell your kids? what should parents do to stay on top of what their kids are doing? >> so i think it's just asking the questions. you know, are you aware of the dangers of fentanyl? are you aware that a single pill could kill? are they stressed? have they thought about hurting themselves? then taking a step back and really talking about, you care about them. that's why you're asking. it's not just to be a strict parent, it's because you really want to save their life and you don't want something devastating to happen. so realizing that we're seeing fentanyl and many different

drugs in the pressed pills, but also if somebody is doing cocaine or methamphetamine. they don't know what is in that drug. it could be their last time because fentanyl is in it. >> dr. aurey, thank you. i called both my college-aged kids and said, one pill can kill. doctor auery and administrator milgram, thank you for joining us with this incredibly important conversation. when we return, a final thought. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. announcer: ozempic® provides powerful a1c reduction. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. and you may lose weight. adults lost up to 14 pounds.

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♪ finally tonight, if you need more information on the fentanyl crisis, you can visit the dea website.

if you or anyone you know has a drug problem, you can contact the substance abuse and mental health services administration at 800-662-help. or visit findtreatment.gov. and that's "nightline" tonight. you can watch full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.