One Pill Can Kill

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s “One Pill Can Kill” campaign will visit Paris on Oct. 1 for a public presentation aimed at raising awareness about the growing danger of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and other synthetics.

The free event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Paris Center of Fine Arts, following an earlier daytime presentation for students and teachers at Crestwood School. Tables from local organizations, including the Edgar County ROSC, the Care Coalition and the Edgar County Public Health Department, will also be on hand.

The national “One Pill Can Kill” initiative, launched by the DEA in 2021, warns that criminal networks are mass-producing fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine; as little as two milligrams — an amount that can fit on the tip of a pencil — can be a potentially lethal dose.

Kansas Police Officer Doug Cochran, who helped organize the visit with a DEA agent, said bringing the campaign to smaller communities required some convincing but it has already paid off.

“It is a great opportunity to get the DEA in Paris and to communicate how drugs are affecting the community, especially small communities in Illinois,” Cochran said. “Being able to connect with the DEA has been a blessing … Now that we’ve got them here, we plan to do the same presentation in Kansas, and hopefully at Shiloh School too.”

Cochran described the daytime school presentation as tailored to students and educators, with a focus on commonly encountered substances and delivery methods.

“The day event, with the kids and the educators, is a lot about marijuana, how addictive it is, how it is a gateway drug, and then also the dangers of vaping, which is being laced with fentanyl now, and a lot of the synthetics,” he said.

The evening presentation will expand on this to the community level.

“The evening event will tie that into what the communities are seeing, how it affects the communities and the relevance of how many deaths are occurring annually based on synthetics, fentanyls and the xylazines,” he shared.

Cochran also stressed that while the DEA presenters have less experience with presenting to smaller communities, “the same information will be shared whether the presentation is delivered in a big city or a small town.”

“Whether you’re in Chicago or you’re in Paris, you’re going to get the same presentation,” he said.

However, the officer hopes the visit to Edgar County opens a door for more DEA engagement with rural and smaller communities that sometimes struggle to access resources.

“I think this might be a door opening for them (the DEA) to realize that small communities need their assistance as well. So many times, in smaller areas, we struggle to gain the resources or know where to ask to find them, and this is one of those situations that I think that they’re going to be very open and willing to talk to smaller entities,” he said. “It was a great win to get them into the schools, to talk to the kids and the educators,” he added.

He urged area residents to attend the evening presentation, noting its life-saving potential.

“Whether you’re in Edgar County or in a surrounding county. This is something that people really need to come to. It’s free, it’s educational, it can save lives and that’s what we’re here for,” Cochran said.

The presentation will include a question-and-answer session, and Cochran said organizers are open to scheduling more trainings for other schools and community groups.

“If we need to set up more of these trainings, for more schools or more community groups, we have a good working relationship with the DEA now and would love to see that happen,” he said.