It doesn't happen here. Drugs are a big city problem.

That is one of the cliches addressed by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics Group (WING) representatives addressed during the Elevate Community Conversations meeting Wednesday, Nov. 9.

The meeting was held at Sidney Public High School's Performing Arts Center.

The meeting included DEA field agents and agents from the WING task force, and Emily Murray, DEA Public Information Officer for the Omaha office. The WING representatives and DEA agents could not be identified because of their duties.

The DEA agents said adults need to credit young people for their intelligence and understanding of social media, and the drug trade.

"These kids now-a-days are more advanced than we were young. It's kind of scary. We have to treat them not as children, but as the young adults they are," one DEA agent said.

The presentation included facts on overdoses in Nebraska. About 107,000 deaths were recorded by overdose in 2021; 67 percent were by oxycodone, and 31 percent by psycho-stimulants, according to the presentation.

Substance use and abuse starts in the teen years and younger, according to the agents. According to the presentation, nine of 10 people with substance abuse problems started using by the age of 18. The same agent said medicine has proven the human brain does not fully develop until the age of 25. 

Agents said the top four drugs of concern in Nebraska for 2021 were methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and fentanyl. In 2021, 160,953 kilograms of meth was seized, followed by more than 150,000 kilograms of marijuana. Fentanyl was only about 12,000 kilograms. However, it takes a much smaller dose to be lethal, according to the agents.

One of the problems with the drug traffic industry is drug trafficking breaks down the fabric of society, agents said. The perception is drug dealers earn a lot of money from their trade. Agents said the truth is much of the profit goes to overseas cartels. Agents showed a picture of an expansive mansion seized in Mexico with exotic cars and more than $200 million in cash. 

Public Information Officer Emily Murray has compared measuring fentanyl to trying to pour only a few grains of salt into your hand, a near impossibility. Additionally, the strength of the fentanyl is unknown; some is made in a back yard "lab" in foreign countries, and some is produced in cartel-owned and operated labs. Much of the fentanyl trade enters the U.S. through illegal border crossing. Agents talked about discovered tunnel networks, drugs packed in spare tires on trucks and vehicles, compartments within fuel tanks and liquified to look like a carbonated drink in a bottle. 

One of the new products in society is called "rainbow fentanyl. Rainbow fentanyl is marketed toward children and young people and is frequently made to look colorful, like common candies. Agents again stressed there is no way of knowing the concentration of fentanyl in the products sometimes until it is too late. The amount of fentanyl on the tip of a pencil, about 2 milligrams, can be lethal to the right person. Agents said four of 10 pills with fentanyl contain a potentially deadly dose of the drug. Agents said marijuana and edible products are equally as unpredictable because the industry is not well-regulated and marijuana produced in recent years is much stronger than in the past.

One agent strongly encouraged people not to consume any product, especially that appears to be medicine, that is not from a doctor or pharmacist. 

The WING task force has been active since 1989 when authorities identified a "huge meth problem." There are nine to 10 WING investigators in the Panhandle. WING representatives said the primary drug in the Panhandle is meth; fentanyl is not gaining much attention in Sidney to date.

WING representatives said much of their information comes through arrests and tips. A tip line is available through the WING Facebook page.