
DEA Social Media Communications
The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. The Public Safety Alert coincides with the launch of DEA’s One Pill Can Kill Public Awareness Campaign to educate the public of the dangers of counterfeit pills and urges all Americans to take only medications prescribed by a medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.
We created this digital social media campaign to encourage the use of social media to help raise public awareness of a significant nationwide surge in fake pills that are mass-produced by criminal drug networks in labs, deceptively marketed as legitimate prescription pills, and are killing unsuspecting Americans at an unprecedented rate.
Help us increase awareness of the dangers of counterfeit pills by retweeting/sharing posts from @DEAHQ and our DEA Field Division Twitter accounts. You can also create your own social media posts by simply using any or all of the sample posts and graphics included in this campaign.
DEA’s One Pill Can Kill Public Awareness Campaign PSA Video
This PSA can be distributed publically on your webpage, social media feeds, to media outlets in your area, and in other places increase awareness of the dangers of counterfeit pills.
DEA One Pill Can Kill Social Media Graphics
To download the graphics, click on the thumbnail images and then right-click and "Save As..."
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Visit DEA's One Pill Can Kill Flickr Album for downloadable images for examples of actual legitimate and counterfeit pills.
Please start using the sample social media posts below today! Use them in their entirety, or modify them for your local audience.
- DEA lab testing reveals that 6 out of every 10 pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. #OnePillCanKill Learn more at www.dea.gov/onepill
- The U.S. overdose crisis has reached a devastating new height with more than 107,000 people dying over the last year from drug overdoses. 68% of overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl. #OnePillCanKill Learn more at www.dea.gov/onepill
- #DYK that you cannot buy a legitimate pharmaceutical drug on social media? Not only is it not safe, it is illegal! #OnePillCanKill Learn more at www.dea.gov/onepill
- The Sinaloa and CJNG cartels in Mexico are producing fentanyl and fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills with chemicals from China, intentionally poisoning Americans to drive addiction & achieve higher profits. #OnePillCanKill Learn more at www.dea.gov/onepill
- The only safe medications are ones that come from licensed and accredited medical professionals. Pills purchased outside of a licensed pharmacy are illegal, dangerous, and potentially lethal. #OnePillCanKill Learn more at www.dea.gov/onepill
Share One Pill Can Kill graphics, photos, or videos on social media. Tag DEA on Instagram and Facebook at @DEAHQ using the following hashtags:
#OnePillCanKill: use in all social media posts. Get "One Pill Can Kill" information and resources.
Additional hashtags used in campaign-related posts and shared content:
#DEA
#OPCK
#1PillCanKill
#Fentanyl
#Meth
#Fake
#FakePill
The following are useful links to drug facts and resource materials related to fake pills and opioid substance use.
Parental Resources
- Buying Drugs Online: What You Should Know
- Drug Overdoses Killed a Record Number of Americans
- Buying Drugs Online – What You Should Know & How to Protect Your Kids
- 10 Strategies to Prevent Your Young Person from Using Drugs
- Severe Opioid Overdoses Rose by Nearly a Third During Pandemic
- Growing Up Drug Free - a Parent's Guide to Prevention
Publications
- Drugs of Abuse: DEA publication w/facts about most commonly abused drugs
- How Teens Misuse Medicine
- DEA Fentanyl Drug Factsheet
- Fentanyl: The Next Wave of the Opioid Crisis
- Fentanyl Flow to the United States
- Fentanyl-Laced Crack Cocaine a Deadly New Threat
- DEA Fentanyl Related Press Releases
Web Resources
- DEA.gov/onepill
- DEA’s "One Pill Can Kill" Flickr album: fake pill and drug photos
- www.JustThinkTwice.com (for teens)
- www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com (for parents, caregivers, and teachers)
- www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov (for teachers and college campus community leaders/advisors)
- www.OperationPrevention.com
DEA. 15 December, 2021. DEA One Pill Can Kill Social Media Campaign. Retrieved from https://www.dea.gov/es/node/204411 on 27 May, 2023
DEA. "DEA One Pill Can Kill Social Media Campaign."Drug Enforcement Agency, 15 December, 2021, https://www.dea.gov/es/node/204411 Accessed 27 May, 2023.
DEA. . Drug Enforcement Agency on DEA website. https://www.dea.gov/es/node/204411. 15 December, 2021. Accessed 27 May, 2023.