DEA warns about use of brightly colored fentanyl 0:44 (CNN) — The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning Tuesday about “brightly colored fentanyl targeting young Americans “. The DEA said that along with other law enforcement agencies it seized colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states this month. “This trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and youth,” the DEA said. “Brightly colored fentanyl is being seized in multiple forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that resemble crayon-type chalk. Despite claims that certain colors may be more potent than others, there is no indication through DEA lab evidence proves this to be the case. Every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous.” Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid intended to help people, such as cancer patients, manage severe pain. It is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. It is used illicitly because of its heroin-like effect, and even small doses can be deadly. The US Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning about “brightly colored fentanyl targeting young Americans.” “Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country,” the DEA said. More than 109,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending March 2022, according to provisional data released this month by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were involved in more than two-thirds of overdose deaths at the time, up from just over half at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, annual drug overdose deaths have increased by 44%. There were 75,702 deaths in the 12-month period ending March 2020, compared to 109,247 deaths in the last 12-month period ending March 2022. Drug deaths among children are relatively rare. But unintentional overdoses led to the loss of 200,000 years of life for American tweens and teens who died between 2015 and 2019, and experts suspect the problem got worse during the pandemic. CNN’s Deidre McPhillips and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.