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According to Dr. Kelsey Bradshaw, a clinical child psychologist with Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, "Social media has become a way for young people to communicate with others. Naturally, these platforms have also become a way that they communicate their needs for substances, and people try to take advantage of that because they assume there's more anonymity." Teens may be buying drugs out of boredom, isolation, existing substance use issues, or mental health struggles. SnapChat, a popular social media platform among young adults and some teenagers, commissioned research from Morning Consult in response to the growing concerns about social media and drug use. The survey was designed to understand how young people perceive drugs and fentanyl. Their findings indicated that young adults and teenagers in the United States today are facing significant mental health challenges, connected to high levels of stress. This isn't surprising, given the pandemic and the politically-fueled turmoil that we've faced in the last year. Almost 90% of those surveyed (ages 13 to 24) reported that people their age feel overwhelmed. The study also found that young people are seeking coping strategies for their stress, and many are turning to drug abuse. About 1 in 5 Gen Zers have thought about abusing prescription drugs, and 84% agree that "coping with stress and anxiety" is a key reason people use drugs. Unfortunately, young people also lack resources and education about the dangers of drug abuse and specifically, the deadliness of fentanyl and its presence in common drugs of choice. Nearly 1 in 4 youth said they did not have enough information about fentanyl to know how dangerous it is. https://socialemotionalpaws.com/blog-post-1/f/illegal-drug-sales- on-social-media-how-snapchat-is-stepping-up-t Snapchat's role in fentanyl crisis probed during House roundtable: House lawmakers considered the role of social media, and specifically Snap- owned Snapchat, in propagating the fentanyl poisoning crisis in a roundtable Wednesday.