Most 8th Graders Don’t Think Trying Fentanyl Once Is A Big Deal, Study Finds

1 in 6 Teens Have Never Even Heard of Fentanyl

Fentanyl is now involved in at least 75% of adolescent overdose deaths in the United States, yet more than half of 8th graders don’t consider trying it once or twice to pose a great risk. That gap sits at the heart of a new nationally representative study published in JAMA Network Open, and the findings paint a troubling picture of just how wide the knowledge divide is among American kids.

Drug overdoses are now the third leading cause of death among U.S. youth. In 2023, an average of 21 high school-aged youth died of an overdose every single week, roughly the size of a typical classroom. Fentanyl is often added to other drugs, including counterfeit pills, so a teenager may encounter it without realizing it. That reality makes awareness of fentanyl’s risks potentially life-saving.

Despite widespread public health campaigns in recent years, this study, which drew on data from the 2025 Monitoring the Future survey, found that awareness of fentanyl’s dangers remains low among younger adolescents.

A Nationally Representative Sample Spanned Three Grade Levels

Researchers pulled the numbers from the 2025 Monitoring the Future study, an annual in-school survey that’s nationally representative of students in the 48 contiguous states. A randomly selected group of 3,820 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade answered questions specifically about fentanyl, split roughly evenly by sex and drawn from Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic other racial backgrounds, across urban, suburban, and rural schools.

Kids were asked how risky they thought it was to try fentanyl once or twice, use it occasionally, or use it regularly, with options ranging from “no risk” to “great risk,” plus a box for “I don’t know what that is.” Researchers crunched the numbers between January and May 2026.

Fentanyl Risk Awareness Drops Sharply Among Younger Teens

Among 8th graders, only 47.8% said they believed trying fentanyl once or twice posed a great risk, meaning nearly half didn’t. That doesn’t mean the rest thought it was harmless. Many picked moderate or slight risk, and 16.6% admitted they didn’t know what fentanyl was at all. Even with regular use, a third of 8th graders still didn’t rate it as highly dangerous. Older teens caught on more, but the gap never closed: by 12th grade, roughly 3 in 10 still didn’t see a single try as a great risk, and about 1 in 10 still said they’d never heard of fentanyl.

Clear differences also emerged by race, ethnicity, and geography. Non-Hispanic White students were most likely to view fentanyl as dangerous across all grades and use levels. Hispanic students had the lowest awareness in 8th grade, and non-Hispanic Black students had the lowest levels in 10th and 12th grade. Both groups also had the highest shares reporting they’d never heard of fentanyl, a combination the study’s authors flag as particularly concerning.

Rural students, perhaps counterintuitively, were more likely to see fentanyl as dangerous in 8th and 10th grade, with wide gaps compared to their urban peers.

Parents’ education mattered too. Kids with a college-educated parent tended to rate fentanyl as riskier, especially by 12th grade. And 12th graders without a college-educated parent were more than twice as likely to say they’d never heard of fentanyl, 14.7% compared to 6.1%.

Targeted Messaging Could Reach High-Risk Teens, Researchers Say

Researchers see three different groups of teens here, each needing a different approach. Some kids simply have never heard of fentanyl, and for them, basic education could go a long way. Others have heard of it but still underestimate how dangerous it is.

A third group is more complicated: teenagers who seek out excitement and favor immediate rewards over long-term consequences. For them, standard anti-drug messaging may not work and could, in theory, backfire, a concern based on research into fear-based appeals rather than a finding of this survey itself. This tendency peaks between ages 13 and 16, the same window when perceived risk of fentanyl is lowest. For this group, the authors suggest social media targeting tools could deliver tailored public health messages instead of relying on one-size-fits-all campaigns.

Researchers also compared these results to heroin awareness: the share of students unfamiliar with fentanyl closely matched the share who said the same about heroin without a needle in 2024. That parallel suggests fentanyl’s unfamiliarity isn’t about it being a newer drug threat but reflects a broader gap in awareness of dangerous substances.

This survey cannot say whether low perceived risk directly causes overdose deaths. What it does show is a knowledge gap wide enough to matter, one that clinicians, schools, and parents still have time to close.

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Disclaimer: This article summarizes findings from a peer-reviewed study and is intended for general informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Anyone concerned about substance use, overdose risk, or a loved one’s safety should consult a qualified healthcare provider.

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