Inside Portland’s deadly teenage fentanyl trade: ‘It’s so easy for them to get it’

Mom discovers daughter unresponsive

Julie Vega describes discovering her daughter, Penelope, lying in bed, dead from an overdose of fentanyl, just 11 days after her 17th birthday. Beth Nakamura

Penelope Vega messaged “Dr.Skripts503″ on Telegram, “you have oxy?”

The dealer on the other end negotiated a sale on the encrypted messaging platform. In a photo, he held up a small bag of 15 blue pills and said he’d throw in 5 “xans” for Xanax bars, all for $60.

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