Today, I want to make you aware of some discouraging new research regarding teens and drug use from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After reviewing the data from 2020, it was discovered that overdoses linked to synthetic opioids like Fentanyl tripled among teenagers over the course of just two years. Among black teenagers, there was a five-fold increase. Fentanyl is one hundred times more potent than morphine, and fifty times more potent than heroin. Fueling this trend is the fact that fentanyl is being combined with other illicit drugs, making them more addictive, dangerous, and even deadly. While the numbers are not in for 2021, experts believe that the data will show additional increases. It is our hope that parents and the church will consistently monitor, love, and nurture the children and teens in our midst, and that we would reach out with care, compassion, and the hope of the Gospel to those who are most vulnerable to abusing drugs.