This year Halloween may present more difficulties for parents and unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. In an article by Pain Medicine News it is reported in August 2022 the DEA and its law enforcement partners seized “rainbow fentanyl” in 18 states.
The agency believes the multicolored, candy-like appearance of the highly addictive and potentially deadly drug is designed by drug cartels to entice children and young people into addiction. To date, the DEA has seized rainbow fentanyl in both pill and powder form, as well as a formulation that appears to be designed to look like sidewalk chalk.
In a statement from DEA Administrator Ann Milgram :
“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. The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”
DEA Press Release
Fentanyl has now become favored by drug cartels over heroin and is now the most common cause of opioid related deaths. This looks to be a deadly turn of events insofar as children now appear to be the intended target. But moreover, this is just another example of how the US administrative state pits one branch of government (DEA) against another (ICE/DHS) since it is the open-borders policy of the current administration that facilitates the flow of fentanyl into our country.