By Brittany Anderson and Amira Van Leeuwen
HAYS COUNTY — What feels like something that would only happen in a far-off community, or is just a “big city problem,” has quickly become reality for Hays County residents: fentanyl is here, and it’s killing children as young as 15.
Fentanyl is an approved pharmaceutical drug that is used every day in hospitals and prescribed to patients who have severe or chronic pain. According to Dr. Lucas Hill, a clinical associate professor at the University of Texas in Austin and director of the Texas Opioid Training Initiative, it is safe and effective to use in a clinical setting as prescribed. However, fentanyl can be illicitly manufactured into counterfeit pills, meaning that it was not produced by a pharmaceutical company, but instead in a clandestine lab or someone’s basement or bathtub.
