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By Tom Bosco
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — For the first time ever, the US will have a National Fentanyl Awareness Day, which will be held n Tuesday, May 10.
This is something many parents probably never thought they'd have to talk about with their college-age students, but it's something every parent might have to add to their college checklist.
Friday night, Columbus firefighters hosted an event where they taught life-saving techniques like CPR and how to administer Narcan.
“No community is immune, overdoses don't see race, color, income, any of that," Neighborhoods Department Director Carla Williams Scott said.
Drug addiction and overdose safety were not the main topic of the event, the city's first Rise Up gathering. Among the city departments at the event, Columbus Fire was on hand handing out Naloxone.
“We would hope you would not do recreational drugs, but if you do, these are things to keep you safe and hopefully keep you alive," Williams Scott said.
The event comes as police investigate two suspected overdose deaths among Ohio State students.
At the end of March, the DEA warned about counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl. On Thursday, Columbus Public Health issued a warning about the fake pills and said they have led to overdoses in the Columbus area.
"We've received thousands of counterfeit pulls, many of them marketed as legitimate M-30 Oxycodone pills, but they're actually counterfeit and contain lethal doses of fentanyl," DEA assistant special agent Michelle Spahn said.
Among those fake pills are pills manufactured and sold as Adderal.
“We’re also seeing Adderal as well, the pills are marketed as Adderal, but they’re not, they’re counterfeit and they contain lethal doses of fentanyl," Spahn said.
The DEA said they it is assisting Columbus Police in the investigation into the deaths of the Ohio State students.
