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W&L Suing Snapchat for Fentanyl Drug Sales to Teens

Reviewed by: James Bilsborrow
January 28, 2025
Home Firm News W&L Suing Snapchat for Fentanyl Drug Sales to Teens

Weitz & Luxenberg is preparing to sue Snapchat for its role in facilitating fentanyl drug sales to teenagers. Snapchat itself does not sell drugs to teenagers. However, its social media platform makes it easy for drug dealers to target children and sell them deadly drugs.

We are suing on behalf of our clients with a child who died or was hospitalized after taking drugs laced with fentanyl. These teens were able to obtain illegal drugs or unauthorized prescription drugs through the Snapchat social media platform.

Drugs Cause Parent’s Worst Nightmare

“This is a parent’s worst nightmare,” says James Bilsborrow, partner and practice group co-chair of Weitz & Luxenberg’s Environmental, Toxic Tort, & Consumer Protection practice team. “Snapchat was supposed to be a safe place for kids to interact with their friends and share photos. Instead, drug dealers have maliciously turned it into an easy way to find unsuspecting young people and lure them in.” 

He emphasizes, “The kids never see it coming. This has to stop. Snapchat needs to own up to its role in enabling the sale of dangerous and illegal drugs to minors.”

Snapchat Makes Selling Drugs Easy

Like other social media platforms, Snapchat is free. The name Snapchat is based on the idea that users can snap photos and videos. All kinds of filters are available for users to play with.

Better yet, for some, these snaps can be timed. In other words, users can decide how long they want their photo or video to be available for viewing. Then the photos or videos can just disappear.

One of the most dangerous features is a Maps feature. For teens, this feature can be a lot of fun. Users can put themselves on a map to show where they are and where they’ve been. They can connect with friends and find each other.

Drugs Dealers Can Find Your Teen

For drug dealers, the Maps feature can be especially appealing. They can use it to find the young people they’re targeting. And they do.

Teens can easily locate drugs. Drug dealers can easily locate young people. The very features that make Snapchat appealing to teenagers can also lead to heartbreaking outcomes.

We would feel privileged to assist you. For a free consultation and more information about your legal options, please contact us today.

(833) 977-3437

Fentanyl Overdose Kills

Fentanyl is a synthetic painkiller. Doctors prescribe it to patients who have severe or chronic pain, usually after surgery. Legal fentanyl is measured, monitored, and regulated. (1)

Illegal fentanyl is made mainly in foreign countries in unregulated laboratories. Illegal drug makers can do all kinds of nasty things. They can mix fentanyl with other drugs, increase or decrease a drug’s potency, put fentanyl in sprays, or press it into pills. (2)

They can make their illegal drugs look like legal ones. And, often, their fake pills contain enough fentanyl to kill someone. (3)

Teens who purchase illegal drugs have no way of knowing what they’ll actually get. And they can die from fentanyl-laced drugs. (4)

Stopping Irresponsible Social Media Platforms from Hurting Your Child

Our fight against irresponsible social media platforms — such as Snapchat — is just beginning. In this day and age, social media platforms continue to jostle to see who can gain the widest audience. For them, viewers mean money. And they are aiming to make as much money as possible.

Companies such as Snap, Inc., are looking more at their bottom line than they are at how their social media platform operates. Snapchat has created features that make it way too easy for drug dealers to target young people and get drugs to them.

The result is heartbreaking: overdoses from fentanyl-laced drugs that lead to hospital visits, even death. Snapchat knows this is happening but the company does not take sufficient responsibility. Snap needs to take the appropriate steps to stop it from happening.

W&L is Helping Families

Weitz & Luxenberg is encouraging families with children harmed by Snapchat’s social media platform to contact us. Was your child hospitalized or did your child die after overdosing on fentanyl-laced drugs acquired through Snapchat? If so, we can help.

You may be entitled to compensation. Compensation may include your medical expenses, as well as for any pain and suffering. Additionally, you may be able to get financial remuneration for future lost income and any current loss of earnings .

Weitz & Luxenberg is prepared to take your case right now and file a lawsuit on your behalf. We offer a free initial consultation. Our experienced consumer protection attorneys can help you explore your legal options. Call us today at (833) 977-3437 or use the form to contact us.

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