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.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
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.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Sweet Smell of Diversity
We need more perfumes with important stories to tell, says beauty editor-at-large
Announcement: The Time to Masturbate Is Now
Seriously. What are you waiting for?
THE Hottest SPORTS STORY YOU'LL READ ALL YEAR
There's a reason romance author Ana Huang has sold more than 8 million books. And that reason is...well, see for yourself in this exclusive excerpt of her highly anticipated novel The Striker, about her fan-favorite hero, pro soccer star Asher Donovan, and former ballerina Scarlett DuBois. Is there sexual tension? Yes. Will there be steam, sweat, and exertion? Yes. Should you stop reading this intro and start diving right in? Yes.
Gen Z Doesn't Want to See Your Baby's Face on Tik Tok
Young enough to have had their childhood posted publicly but old enough to be starting families of their own, the world's most online cohort might just kill the multibillion-dollar momfluencer industry once and for all.
We Need to Talk About Women and Concussions
Because we're getting traumatic brain injuries more than ever...and more than men.
The True Tale of My Multi-Orgasmic Hookup With My Much Younger Handyman
I needed some help around the house. He put in overtime.
What's It Really Like to Be a Stay-at-Home Girlfriend?
Spoiler: The junior tradwife life isn't as rosy as it looks online.
Dove Cameron
The singer is ready to f*ck around and find out.
Is This Thing On?
When it comes to Ashley Park, the answer has always been yeswhile filming Emily in Paris, while owning a Broadway stage, while starring in some of the buzziest projects of the past few years. And also, we now know, while living through a recent near-death experience, which has taught the 33-year-old force of nature that sometimes you have to power down to level up all over again.
sabrina carpenter
The singer, actor, and miniskirt enthusiast just wants to chat.