Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer has warned rainbow fentanyl may be distributed during Halloween to get children "hooked."
Speaking on Sunday outside his New York office, Schumer said rainbow fentanyl was one of the biggest health issues facing the country right now.
He also said he wants $290 million to help fight the hold the addictive opioid is gaining in America.
This comes after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a report at the beginning of September warning young Americans of the drug.
"Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction among kids and young adults," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said.
"The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the U.S."
During his press conference, Schumer also highlighted this and the danger young people face.
"This is fentanyl, this is a Sweetart: you tell me the difference," Schumer said while holding up pictures of the addictive pills and the tangy sweet, according to a New York Post report.
"Halloween is coming ... this is really worrisome and really dangerous," he added.
"These drug traffickers are doubling down on their bet to hook young people," he also said during his press conference.
"And unfortunately, they're having success. We cannot let this happen.
"So, I am going to make sure that in the federal budget that we're voting on this week is $290 million to fight the scourge of fentanyl and rainbow fentanyl.
"In particular, [so] there is money for what is called ORS teams, overdose response strategy teams, that go after the drug dealers and help warn kids, about the danger of this range of rainbow fentanyl."
The DEA also explained why rainbow fentanyl and fentanyl in general is considered a risk to the population.
"Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine," the report said.
"Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose.
"Without laboratory testing, there is no way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder."
"Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. According to the CDC (Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention), 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl."
Despite the concerns raised by the DEA and Schumer, Joseph J. Palamar, an associate professor at New York University Langone Medical Center's Department of Population Health, argued it is unlikely drug dealers would be giving rainbow fentanyl out for Halloween.
Speaking to Newsweek he said: "These pills, like all illegal drugs, cost money. It's unlikely for someone to purchase an illegal drug for the purpose of distributing to unsuspecting kids on Halloween. Even if some of these pills cost as little a few dollars each.
"It may be possible for one of these pills to wind up in the hands of unsuspecting kids, but I'd think this is more likely when a kid has someone like a parent in the house who uses fentanyl and happens to leave the pills around.
"Years ago we used to hear the same concerns about ecstasy. Simply because ecstasy pills had cute designs, people seemed to think there would be people buying these $20 pills and giving them out for Halloween."
He closed by giving advice to parents on how to protect their children from the dangers of these drugs over the festive season.
"You can warn your kids about the presence of dangerous pills in the US, but I, personally, wouldn't ruin their Halloween by scaring the hell out of them. Scare them with a mask, not exaggerated opioid stories that will ruin their holiday.
"There will always be people out there looking to do sick things. The best we can do is educate our kids. But we need to make sure the parents are educated first."
Newsweek has reached out to Schumer for comment.
Update 9/26/22 10:20 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Palamar.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
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