This story is Part 4 of WTOP’s four-part series, “Fighting Fentanyl,” which explores how the drug is impacting students, families and schools in the D.C. area.
Opioid overdoses among young people across the D.C. region have been declining, a step school leaders and community advocates attribute to increased messaging and the availability of naloxone.
But they’re carefully monitoring emerging trends and warning parents about other substances that could have harmful effects, even if they’re not as deadly as fentanyl.
Alcohol could spike at various points throughout the year, and then opioids or schedule I or II substances make up a smaller percentage. However, “the most deadly of all of the drugs that kids can be getting, especially with fentanyl or Pyro or Xylazine, (are) some of the newer synthetics that we’re starting to see,” according to Jennifer Evans, the district’s director of student mental health services.
As of now, Evans said those substances have been found nearby in Maryland or West Virginia, “so it’s only a matter of time before it gets to us.” Xylazine has “peaked” near Philadelphia, and Evans said it’s unclear where Pyro came from, but they’re different forms of opiates that are synthetic. They don’t respond as positively to naloxone, Evans said, so it’s still effective but might require multiple doses.
Xylazine is a veterinary sedative, and “Pyro” is a class of synthetic opioids.
Meanwhile, in Arlington, school leaders are regularly updating educational materials to match the latest trends. Jenny Sexton, one of the school district’s substance abuse counselors, said substances such as Xylazine and Isotonitazene are human-made and used in counterfeit pills.
“This is an evolving field,” Sexton said.
Michael Axler, director of intervention and prevention services for Fairfax County Public Schools, said while they’re monitoring Xylazine trends, the division isn’t noticing the same patterns it did with fentanyl.
“There are always other substances that are out there,” Axler said. “We’re not aware that there are any other substances that are being used that are having as damaging an effect as fentanyl.”
In Alexandria, school officials have been sounding the alarm about the possible consequences of vape concentrates. Highly concentrated levels of THC, according to the district’s Fredy Martinez, could lead to psychotic behaviors, anxiety or panic.
Ginny Atwood, co-founder of the recovery group The Chris Atwood Foundation, said they’re hearing about young people moving away from opioids and “more toward cannabis and psychoactive hallucinogens and things like that, which are generally much less fatal and dangerous in that way. They have their own set of dangers and difficulties.”
Sean Foster, whose son Cayden died from an overdose in 2023, said the Fairfax County detective who worked on the case has offered some insight into new trends. The focus isn’t as much on pills, Foster said, “but more the powder being mixed into things like cocaine and marijuana and things like that.”
“The drug of choice in college right now is cocaine, and fentanyl is absolutely being laced into cocaine,” Foster said.
There’s an increase in adults using cocaine and methamphetamines, according to Rebecca Sutter, a nursing professor at George Mason University, and “it’s on my radar to monitor the age ranges and whether or not we’re going to see kind of a phase down into the younger populations,” she said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
