The Fentanyl Free America Summit in Orlando this week brought together teens from anti-drug coalitions across the country, grieving parents and federal law enforcement officials. Students traveled to Florida to learn about the resurgence of fentanyl so they can return home with a message about one of the country's deadliest drug threats. Hannah Kahn, 18, and Jasmine Figueroa, 19, are members of their community anti-drug coalitions. Figueroa said she has a relative who is addicted to methamphetamine, and seeing how that has destroyed his life has encouraged her to prevent that from happening to anybody else. Figueroa also emphasized that fentanyl is often not known because it is laced within other drugs that people are seeking.
This year's summit welcomed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a partner. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole spent time with victim families and discussed the ongoing threat. Cole said the poison is being manufactured and distributed out of Mexico by the Mexican cartels. He pointed to new tools from the current administration, noting the president has designated Mexican cartels as foreign terrorists, which opens different avenues for targeting them. Mari Rodriguez's daughter, Imam, died of fentanyl poisoning in 2023. Rodriguez said her daughter made the mistake of buying a Percocet pill that had fentanyl in it, and it took her life. Rodriguez said the fight should have started in 2009, when the first fentanyl was found on streets. Kahn said many people have the stereotype that Narcan is only for responders and EMS, but it should be thought of as a household product, just like Benadryl.