We Need to Talk About the Fentanyl in Your Party Pills
Cosmopolitan US|Spring 2024
The potentially deadly substance is virtually impossible to see, smell, or taste and it's creeping into drugs you might have once considered "safe."
MARA SANTILLI
We Need to Talk About the Fentanyl in Your Party Pills

Jenna* started experimenting with alcohol and weed when she was 18. In her early 20s, she moved on to pharmaceutical drugs like Adderall and oxycodone, popping them while partying or, in the case of meds like Xanax, to self-medicate for anxiety. She didn't have actual prescriptions for any of them, but it wasn't a problem-securing pills was easy at the restaurant where she worked. Someone was always willing to share.

Jenna knew there were risks, of course, as there would be with any recreational drug use, but she rarely had any issues. She was high-functioning and knew her limits. She never had cause to worry about what was actually in the pills she took. "Everything was pretty much what it appeared to be," she says. Plus, she trusted her sources. But today? A totally different story.

"The landscape is so much more nefarious," says Jenna, now 35 and working in harm reduction. "You can't trust anybody to give you what they say they're giving you." As more and more women are coming to realize, it's also nearly impossible to trust the pills themselves. Any obtained on the illicit market (as in anywhere other than a legitimate medical pharmacy) may be laced with illegally made fentanyl, a super-potent synthetic opioid that has been the cause for most fentanyl-related deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These so-called "fentapills" are indistinguishable from the legitimate prescription drugs they're pretending to be (like Adderall, Xanax, Percocet, or oxycodone), explains Nabarun Dasgupta, PhD, MPH, a senior scientist in opioid disorders and overdoses at the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center.

Denne historien er fra Spring 2024-utgaven av Cosmopolitan US.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Spring 2024-utgaven av Cosmopolitan US.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA COSMOPOLITAN USSe alt
DREAM-SCROLLING FOR DINNER
Cosmopolitan US

DREAM-SCROLLING FOR DINNER

With young people in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis, TikTok creators are turning grocery runs into rich-girl-coded productions - and followers are eating it up. Krista Diamond digs into what happens when a cart full of staple goods becomes a clout metric.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Young Love in Atlanta
Cosmopolitan US

Young Love in Atlanta

WE TOOK OUR COUPLE SPOTTING SERIES DOWN SOUTH.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
THE NEW C-SUITE 2024
Cosmopolitan US

THE NEW C-SUITE 2024

Progress. It’s a word that, in 2024, gets thrown around a lot. Especially when it comes to representation across all sorts of roles at all sorts of companies, including, crucially, at start-ups. Yet...people of color—and specifically women of color—still don’t often get the chance to even enter the conversation. Over the past few years, less than 1 percent of venture capital funding in this country has gone toward women of color entrepreneurs. (Making matters worse, funds that are geared toward supporting these women have become targets of anti-affirmative-action groups, forcing at least one to shut down entirely.)

time-read
8 mins  |
Winter 2025
Revenge Dressing
Cosmopolitan US

Revenge Dressing

Model and content creator Olivia Ponton is giving you permission to bring everyone who's ever wronged you to their knees with these simple yet very effective styles.

time-read
1 min  |
Winter 2025
HOTTER Than DRAGON FIRE
Cosmopolitan US

HOTTER Than DRAGON FIRE

It’s very likely that no matter where you are right now, there’s a copy of Fourth Wing nearby. Probably one of Iron Flame too. Both books, by romantasy queen Rebecca Yarros, topped every bestseller list—and absolutely ignited BookTok, spawning a rabid fandom that cannot get enough of badass heroine Violet Sorrengail and her relationship with fellow dragon-rider Xaden Riorson. Honestly, what’s not to love? There’s extreme adventure. Absurdly high stakes. Wildly hot sex. And the promise of a lot more, starting right here, with this exclusive first excerpt of the series’ third book, Onyx Storm. Friends, get your daggers ready. (IYKYK. If you don’t, prepare to get obsessed.)

time-read
8 mins  |
Winter 2025
RACHEL ZEGLER
Cosmopolitan US

RACHEL ZEGLER

She won a Golden Globe for her first major film role, in West Side Story. She took on a beloved franchise and made the newest Hunger Games a hit. She became a bona fide Disney princess with 2025's Snow White. And now the 23-year-old is checking a new career milestone off her bucket list: Broadway. Here, she chats with her Romeo + Juliet collaborator Jack Antonoff about it all.

time-read
10 mins  |
Winter 2025
Your Holiday Brunch Requires a Panful of These Treats
Cosmopolitan US

Your Holiday Brunch Requires a Panful of These Treats

A gooey, coconutty gift to you and yours from Tik Tok-viral chef Tuệ Nguyễn.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
We Need to Talk About ADHD in Young Women
Cosmopolitan US

We Need to Talk About ADHD in Young Women

We've been excluded from this conversation for a long time...and we're suffering because of it.

time-read
4 mins  |
Winter 2025
Go Ahead - Plan a Trip Around the Northern Lights
Cosmopolitan US

Go Ahead - Plan a Trip Around the Northern Lights

Because we're in the midst of a solar maximum (yup, we had to google it too) that's expected to end soon and this is the most intense and most accessible the aurora borealis will be for years. These stunning under-the-radar spots will grant you the best, least crowded views.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
I Got My Tubes Removed and It Was the Most Liberating Experience
Cosmopolitan US

I Got My Tubes Removed and It Was the Most Liberating Experience

With reproductive health care ever at risk in this country, could this be the future of birth control?

time-read
4 mins  |
Winter 2025