After losing son to fentanyl overdose, father turns grief into awareness about counterfeit prescription pills

CHICAGO - With final exams coming up, pulling all-night study sessions and drinking lots of coffee may be the game plan for many college students.

However, it’s not uncommon for some of them to reach for something much stronger than caffeine.

In a Fox 32 special report, Elizabeth Matthews looks at how taking a "study drug" may cost you more than just some sleep.

"If it can happen to Peter, it can happen to anyone’s child," said Dean Jeske. "He was a great kid. He was a great kid."

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Jeske lost his youngest son Peter to a counterfeit prescription pill just 18 months ago.

In April 2021, Peter was a senior at Indiana University scheduled to graduate in a few weeks with a finance degree and a job in Denver.

Despite being a big fan, that Monday night Peter passed on watching the NCAA men’s basketball finals to stay home and study.

"Apparently at some point that night, early in the morning, he took a pill that he thought was a safe prescription pill," Jeske said.

He says he doesn’t know how or where his son got that pill.

"But it was made of fentanyl. He took the pill and was probably dead within 15 to 20 minutes," Jeske said.

Adderall is known to be a "study drug". It can be found for sale in both its original form and in fake form on social media. The same goes for other prescription drugs like Xanax and Oxycodone. With Adderall in short supply, some students might not care where they get it from.

"What we tell everyone is that the only pill or medication that is safe to take is one that’s been prescribed by your doctor and dispensed at a registered pharmacy," said Luis Agostini, Public Information Officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division.

"Anything else nowadays you have to assume that it has fentanyl in it and it can kill you," he said.

Part of Agostini’s job is going to Northeastern Illinois University and other local colleges to talk to students about how one pill can kill.

"Once they hear the number, about over 107,000 Americans died as a result of drug overdose. And two-thirds of those deaths are as a result of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, that’s a big wake-up call for these students," Agostini said.

The problem is some students don’t get that wake-up call in time.

"I’ve seen students, they’ve never done it before in their life and now they’re doing it just because they’re so freaked out in general," said NEIU sophomore Jacob Hernandez.

Hernandez says most kids don’t realize how dangerous fentanyl is until it happens to them, and not just their friends.

"I don’t think it’s something necessarily talked about enough. Especially it’s socially accepted for people to be doing these type of things. Even if it does have fentanyl, they don’t really care. Some people generally just don’t care or realize the risk until afterwards, and it’s too late," Hernandez said.

Which is why it’s more important than ever to get the message out about how deadly one pill can be.

"There’s a lot of pressure happening on the campus. Not just this campus but every campus. Especially after the pandemic," said Jennie Lasko, Interim Director for Student Health Services at NEIU.

That’s also part of the reason why Jeske is speaking at high schools like Benet Academy and dozens of others across the Chicago area to make sure students hear that message early and often.

"I tell them up front the only qualification I have for talking to you is I’m a dad who lost his youngest son to this epidemic," Jeske said. "He made a mistake and what he didn’t know, and what so many of these other young people don’t know, is it’s a mistake that could end your life.

The DEA is asking for everyone - parents, coaches, teachers, caregivers and so on - to talk to your kids about counterfeit pills and just how dangerous fentanyl is.

For more information on how to start that conversation, go to DEA.gov/onepill.