Skip to content
Celebrating Black History Month 2026: A Living Archive of Thought, Culture, and Possibility
Apply
Stories

Children not target of ‘rainbow fentanyl,’ experts say. And adding color may actually protect drug users.

People in this story

Photo: Drug Enforcement Administration
News from the DEA has some parents worried that rainbow-colored opioids could be given to their children this Halloween. Not only is the claim misguided, Northeastern experts say. It also contributes to a dangerous dialogue about drugs in the United States.

Parents may have noticed a disturbing trend on social media this month: claims that fentanyl is being manufactured in colorful tablets that are meant to attract their children.

Politicians like Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) spread the news on their own social media accounts, telling parents to be aware ahead of the upcoming Halloween holiday and blaming President Joe Biden for not cracking down harder on immigration. And programs like Fox News and Good Morning America have covered the claims as well.

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

01/21/26 - BOSTON, MA. - Tiffany Bailey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, teaches a African Film course in Behrakis 307 on Jan. 21, 2026. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

African cinema opens new ways of seeing a vibrant continent

02.02.2026
Attendees look at a marked up map of the Guadalupe River during a Texas state Senate and House Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding public hearing, in Kerrville, Texas, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

New data tool boosts preparedness for potentially deadly flooding

02.02.2026
Lana Vogler, a Northeastern behavioral neuroscience and philosophy student and New England Patriots Cheerleader, shows off some of her cheerleading routine in the Carter Field Bubble on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Patriots cheerleader by night, student by day, she’s headed to the Super Bowl

02.05.26
Student Stories