Illicit Fentanyl Acutely Impacts California Children, Say Parents, Experts

“It’s an epidemic,” said Rhonda Manning, the mother of fentanyl victim Major Manning.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that six out of 10 illicit pills contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. A lethal dose is 2 mg., approximately the amount on the tip of this pencil. Courtesy of DEA

Major Manning of Mountain House, California, was just 17 when he took a single Percocet pain pill—but he didn’t know it was laced with the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The drug ultimately took his life in 2023, and what happened to him is becoming increasingly commonplace in California.