Families of teens who died after taking adulterated drugs purchased on Snapchat or through other social networks called on these platforms on Monday to take action against this plague.
I am here to warn people about the dangers of social media where drugs and other crimes come into our lives, through our children.explains AFP Sam Chapman, who came to present in front of Snapchat headquarters, an application for sharing videos and photos that is so popular with young people, in Santa Monica, California.
Her son Sammy died in February 2021 due to poisoning with fentanyl, a very powerful and addictive opiate that he didn’t know about on the pill drug he got from Snapchat. Sammy should have celebrated his 18th birthday this weekend.
The teenager was in his room one Sunday night, watching the final of the American football championship. About an hour after bringing him food, we found him dead on the ground in a characteristic stance.said Mr. Chapman, 57.
He stopped breathing, backed away from the chair and choked on his own vinegar.he says, a scenario unfortunately so common among teens who think they are using recreational drugs, but inadvertently ingest fentanyl.
Of the 107,000 overdose deaths recorded last year in the United States, 70% were caused by a fentanyl poisoningthe leading cause of death today for Americans aged 18 to 45, indicates the associations behind this event.
A menu of pills of all colors offered to young people
According to Sam Chapman, a drug dealer contacted his son on Snapchat, introducing him to a real menu with pills of all colors. And at the bottom he is said to be delivering […] like pizza.
For Mr. Chapman, Snapchat has become like dark web [web caché] for children.
Like other families of the victims, he is urging Snapchat and other platforms popular with young people to take concrete action to stop this phenomenon.
We have worked tirelessly to help fight the national crisis by eliminating drug dealers from our platform.a spokesman’s reaction for Snapchat, AFP asked.
The California company added that it uses modern technology to proactively explore and close accounts people sell drugs on Snapchat and block drug -related results from its search engine.
But for Sam Chapman, the system doesn’t work, because dealers use emoji and code words that aren’t blocked.
VOID of the victims association wants to hold social networks accountable to what happens to their users on their platforms, which is not happening at present. If you’re at the supermarket and you slip and fall, you can sue thempleaded with the VOID president during the demonstration.
The law currently governing these platforms was written in 1996. Lawmakers have no idea what the state of the internet will be todayhe insisted.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
