BALTIMORE, MD, Nov. 11, 2023 — Fentanyl has become a serious threat on college campuses across the country and has claimed the lives of three students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the past two years. Dr. Paul Christo, Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been on the front line of the opioid epidemic, and he says what the country is witnessing now is unprecedented.
“We’re in unprecedented times,” Dr. Christo said during an interview. “Just last year, there were over 100,000 overdose deaths. More than 60% of those are due to the illicit drug called fentanyl.”
Educating young people (and their parents) about the dangers of illicit drug use and fentanyl’s hiding places are critical first steps toward protecting students, he explained.
“Students who think they’re buying prescription drugs like Xanax, Vicodin or oxycodone from illegal sources don’t realize that these can be counterfeit pills that have been laced with fentanyl, and this can be a deadly mistake,” Dr. Christo added.
Doctors began prescribing opioids as an effective treatment for chronic pain, but their use quickly spiraled out of control, he explains.
“In the mid-1990s, more and more practitioners were using opioids as a first-line agent to reduce pain,” Dr. Christo said. “And that, unfortunately, led to an increase in the use of opioids for chronic pain and probably increased the use for those who really didn’t need them.”
There’s no question that the pandemic caused a troubling upward trend in addiction disorders, and a recent study predicts an additional 1.2 million drug overdose deaths in the next decade, with people in the Black community bearing the brunt of the opioid epidemic.
Dr. Christo wants to remind those battling chronic pain or addiction that there is hope — and help — if they just know where to look for it.
“Don’t give up if you have chronic pain,” he said. “Because there is hope. We have nonopioid treatments that can be effective. Also don’t give up if you have a substance use disorder. Talk to your primary care doctor, talk to emergency room physicians … SAMHSA is a good resource, too …Take the opportunity to use the resources that are available.”
The opioid epidemic today progressed in three phases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first involves deaths caused by prescription opioids, the second, an increase in heroin use, and the third, a surge in the use of synthetic opioids or fentanyl. Experts say the U.S. is right in the middle of the third phase of the epidemic, due to the increasing availability of fentanyl and increasing rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.
About Dr. Paul Christo
Dr. Paul Christo serves as Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of Aches and Gains, A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain. Dr. Paul Christo also hosts an award-winning, nationally syndicated SIRIUS XM radio talk show on overcoming pain called, Aches and Gains®. For more information about Dr. Paul Christo. Please visit
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Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
