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We all hear stories about unfortunate teens dying from taking the wrong pill at a party, mixing the wrong things, or some other variation. It’s a prevalent topic in the news and there are countless tales, but I personally never really considered the gravity and reality of it all until I lost one of my friends to an accidental drug overdose in highschool. I remember the day like no other. It was summer of junior year, covid was rampant, there were absolutely no responsibilities. I had spent the entire day out with friends at a local lake, swimming in the cool natural water, sunbathing on the rocks, swinging from the trees, with not a care in the world. It was peaceful there, an escape from the real world. We watched the sun go down past the silhouettes of the swaying trees and laughed about life. Unknown to us, as the sun set, so did the life of one of our close friends.

We left the lake with our bikes and headed back towards civilization, towards a cell connection with the outer world. This is where everything changed. I remember halfway through our ride down the hill one of the kids nearly crashed while using his phone. By the time we all stopped and got off, he was in shambles on the side of the road. We all gathered around to ask what had happened, but were met with only sobs and brief gasps of air in between. Time started to slow as our hearts raced faster. Slowly, the world dissipated around us as the words “he’s dead” rolled off of his tongue. In that very moment, we all knew what had happened.The world slowly dissipated around us as the gravity of the situation finally set in.

Our friend had battled with drug abuse and addiction for years. He’d do pretty much anything he could get his hands on. We figured it stemmed from his parent’s lack of availability for him. They were never around and when they were they hardly paid attention to him. It seemed to have instilled a permanent loneliness that he could only cure through drugs. Unfortunately, the drugs eventually won his war on July 22nd, 2020 when he was pronounced dead in his bedroom from an accidental fentanyl overdose. He had purchased a counterfeit pill online (probably snapchat) and took it alone without testing it. From what I know, his heart stopped entirely within an hour of ingesting the pill.

I won’t go into more detail but the events that transpired that day shaped me forever. Part of why I want to do this project is to shed light on events just like this that happen every day. It can happen in an instant and be completely out of everyone’s control. It is very important to keep a close eye on those struggling. Had we convinced him to come out with us, maybe he’d still be alive today.

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In order to explore my critical question I read a multitude of different online sources regarding my topic (four of which I cited), and did extensive field work. After researching I have found three core reasons behind the increase in drug related deaths among teens. One of the first reasons is the sudden and extreme increase in fentanyl saturation within the market. Just in San Francisco, one of the richest cities in America, police seized 56 kilos of fentanyl in just three months, 38 of which were seized from the Tenderloin. For perspective, 1 kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. Evidently, fentanyl is the current leading cause of drug related deaths. The more fentanyl there is in the market, the more likely teens abusing drugs are to die. This leads me into my second finding for the increase in drug related teenage deaths: Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic left many isolated, lonely, anxious, and severely depressed. Studies have shown (noted in Alison Brunier’s article) the pandemic has led to a 25% increase in depression and anxiety among teens. As a result of this isolation, some teens turned to drugs as an outlet or coping mechanism. Unfortunately, this outlet has proved to be a deadly one for many, with teen deaths reaching ~108,000 between the years 2019 and 2021 per the CDC.

Furthermore, an increase in social media usage (especially during the pandemic) and exposure to illicit substances has also been a leading factor for teen drug use and abuse. Social media, music, television, and movies, all promote drug use in some way or another, sometimes implicitly, other times very explicitly. Teens are extremely impressionable and therefore heightened exposure has increased their chances/ interest in exploring various drugs. Once again, unfortunately, exploration in this modern day and age can have extreme fatal consequences, especially because of the fairly new fentanyl crisis.

For my field work, I spent time in the Tenderloin observing the local inhabitants in an attempt to grasp the immensely terrible effects of the fentanyl crisis in the Bay Area. It was a heartbreaking experience for me. I saw young teens, my age or younger, passed out in tents, so intoxicated they couldn’t even stand on their own two feet. Young women shooting up fentanyl in bus stops to the point of unconsciousness. There was fecal matter scattered across the sidewalks, crowds of ten or twenty individuals so high they couldn’t move. Ambulances would come and go every half hour, either to cart away a dying person or try and help prevent such a thing from happening. Really focusing and observing these conditions put into perspective just how real, and how severe this crisis is. Although the majority of the tenderloin inhabitants were adults, there were still children scattered about and this hurt me the most.

Fentanyl is affecting everybody, and we all need to keep a closer eye on those struggling not only with drugs, but also mental health. All it takes is one wrong pill and you are dead, forever. In a market that is flooded with fentanyl it is so important to not only be aware of the immense amounts of cut substances, but also the very real and damaging effects these synthetic drugs have. This project has definitely helped open my eyes as to why so many teens are dying, but also to the larger picture of the suffering of our neighbors, right here in the Bay Area. I hope this project helps shed some light on the darker corners of our society and inspires some of you to at least consider ideas for change in your day to day lives. (611 words)

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Young man in his 20s smoking black tar heroin out of a makeshift pipe

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A group of young men seemingly unconsciously intoxicated

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A very young woman (no older than 20) whom I watched shoot up in the bus stop and go unresponsive

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Group of elderly individuals huddled in the cold, smoking together

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very old woman intoxicated with heroin needles in her hair