ATLANTA — The Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta is warning parents there is no such thing as experimental drugs anymore.
During a behind-the-scenes tour of the city's DEA headquarters, the special agent in charge said the drugs on the streets now in metro Atlanta can be deadly for kids to try even once.
The DEA said it still seizes more meth than any other drug in Georgia, but it's the proliferation of fentanyl that worries Special Agent Robert Murphy the most.
Murphy said 107,000 people each year are dying from the drug and it's impacting the nation's younger generations the most.
"It's not Russian Roulette. In Russian Roulette, you know what you're playing. These kids don't know what they're playing...with the drugs right now," Murphy said.
They are likely going to die, not wake up because they stop breathing, it's that quick, Murphy added.
"These are not chemists creating this. You're relying on someone who can't spell chemistry, or have never taken a chemistry class in his life to create these drugs. It's a fatal choice," he said.
While he said the DEA has had a lot of success shutting down the major cartels operating in the city, there's no way to stop them all.
"Ever since there's been banks, there's been bank robberies. So there is going to continue to be drug activity. And we are going to continue to fight," Murphy said.
For as much as they do in drug enforcement, he said the best defense starts at home with prevention. Murphy said parents and schools need to continue to talk to kids about the dangers of using drugs - just once.
"This is a serious thing. It's attacking and killing our youngest population, the future of this country," he said.