‘It is Killing Our Children': Growing Concern as Fentanyl Deaths Spike Among Kids

A new study has found that fentanyl deaths are spiking in children under 5, and it's already happened in South Florida.

That's why a panel of experts came together to discuss solutions to the ongoing issue.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 500,000 people died from opioid-involved overdoses between 1999 and 2020.

And now a growing number of young children are being accidentally poisoned.

Deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl in children under 5 jumped from 2015 to 2021.

"This is crazy, we are seeing young people die in record numbers and we're going to have to do more to save lives," said Project Opioid's Andrae Bailey.

Project Opioid is working to create awareness about the crisis by bringing together community leaders and organizations.

"Fentanyl is the cheapest drug to produce that we've ever seen in the history of the United States of America. You can bring it in to this country for pennies on the dollar, make millions as a drug dealer," Bailey said. "We're not going to stop it from coming in, we've got to stop it in our schools, in our churches, and in our corporations to save lives."

The group hosted a panel discussion Thursday on Miami Beach that featured the DEA, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office and Miami Beach's Police chief.

"Children between 10 years old and 26 years old are dying of fentanyl poisoning," Project Opioid's Lisa Keeler said. "This means they are going on Snapchat, going on social media, they are finding what they think is a Xanax or an Ambien or an Adderall and it's actually got fentanyl in it and it is killing our children."

John Emery lost his son, Darius, to fentanyl poisoning back in October of 2015. Darius was only 21.

"Honestly, I don't know the exact circumstances. I think he took a pill that was stamped out perhaps by a drug organization that he thought was something else that had fentanyl," Emery said. "It's a feeling that is terrifying."

Project Opioid said it's important to keep an open line of communication with children and make it clear that no illicit drug is safe.