DEA warns Iowa parents about student access to drugs

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Omaha office, which has jurisdiction over Iowa, is urging parents to talk with their children about the dangers of drugs.

The DEA says, since January, officers have removed 357,000 deadly doses of fentanyl from Iowa -- a deadly dose is as little as two milligrams. Regarding fentanyl, the DEA warns that no amount is worth the risk.

“People have no idea how much fentanyl is actually in these pills,” Agent Travis Ocken with the Omaha DEA said. “There are no quality controls.”

This warning is especially important as Ocken says drugs are getting easier for students to get ahold of.

“Nowadays there’s all kinds of apps out there where kids can get on,” Ocken said. “It’s really no different than you or I going on to a website or an app like Amazon and ordering something.”

In recent years, strides have been made in Iowa leading to a decrease in the rate of drug overdoses. Drug abuse advocates credit more access to Narcan or Naloxone. which are essential to saving people during an overdose.

The DEA warns that many students or other young people may not have the knowledge or the resources to reverse the potentially fatal consequences of drug use.

“We’re talking about kids and kids that are going off to school and they’re going to be going to parties,” Ocken said. “If somebody consumes or ingests fentanyl, it’s potentially deadly. If there isn’t any Narcan or naloxone available, the consequences are just horrific.”

In many cases, Ocken said cartels and gangs are hiding things in fake pills that look like something bought at a pharmacy.

The administration also says it is seizing more cocaine.