The number of deaths caused by fentanyl climb to a new high as the drug proceeds to become more accessible and affordable.
There is a crisis on our hands as fentanyl claims thousands of young adult lives in America.
Shocking statistics show that “fentanyl fatally poisons one person in America every 8.57 minutes, killing 175 people every single day.” In addition, this drug has stolen twice as many lives than Covid has, according to the U.S. Congressman Greg Murphy.
As the death rates continue to climb, the United States has grappled with an astounding amount of deaths due to this deadly drug. For the first time in history, the U.S. has exceeded over 100,000 overdoses within the span of a 12-month period. From those 100,000 overdoses, 64,000 Americans have died, according to Congressman Murphy.
Fentanyl has mainly been affecting young adults from the ages of 18-45, and if action isn’t taken soon, these numbers will begin to grow more rapidly.
China is the primary producer of fentanyl, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The drug fentanyl is being trafficked in through international mail, and the drug makes its way through the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were able to better the situation of the fentanyl crisis by seizing around 11,000 pounds of the drug from the border of Mexico.
As it becomes more accessible, it’s important that people are aware of the dangers of this illicit drug.
Street dealers and Mexican cartels are becoming more creative in disguising the poisonous drug. According to NPR News, the DEA claims that the color pills are being marketed towards children; however, drug experts would have to disagree. Dr. Sheila Vakharia, who studies illegal drugs at the University of North Carolina, stated that dealers use different visuals “to distinguish their product from other products on the street.” Therefore, rainbow fentanyl is used as an indicator to differentiate between the range of drugs, and it’s not used to market towards young children.
In addition, drug experts are saying that children lack the money to afford the fentanyl, therefore the fear stems from somewhere else. The real alarm comes from the dealers shaping rainbow fentanyl to impersonate pharmacy medication. Vakharia said, “Oftentimes colors are also used to mimic legitimate prescription medications.”
Brandon del Pozo is an addiction medicine researcher at Brown University, and he wants to clear up some false information about the poisonous drug. Del Pozo stated, “fears about the very real fentanyl crisis have sometimes given rise to inaccurate information and false alarms.” He states that there is no real evidence to prove that by touching fentanyl powder or inhaling small amounts of the substance can kill someone.
He goes on further to explain how false information and drug scares can be very detrimental.
“False alarms and drug scares matter because they distract attention from the need for better health care and addiction treatment at a moment when more than 100,000 Americans are dying from overdoses each year,” said Del Pozo.
Now, families that lost loved ones to fentanyl are pleading with lawmakers to take action regarding this drug. Two mothers, April Babcock and Virginia Kriege, both lost children to this deadly drug. On Sept. 22, Babcock and Kriege stood outside the White House to ask lawmakers and officials to implement stricter enforcement regarding the trafficking of the poisonous drug alongside the U.S.-Mexico border.
Fifty banners were displayed that day, and the posters showed 3,500 people that died from the illicit drug. Many of the people on the poster were young; some were even teenagers. Babcock mentions how she lost two of her sons to the drug, one in 2015, and another in 2019. Now, she is marching to raise awareness about the drug that, “is 50 times more powerful than heroin,” according to The Washington Post.
In addition, a group called The Mothers’ Group, Lost Voices of Fentanyl, is urging the Biden administration to do more to stop fentanyl from being trafficked into the U.S. Parents are asking that more light will be shed on the drug crisis. “We want a Covid-like response to fentanyl,” Babcock said, adding that grief-stricken parents should not need to be “standing on street corners, having to hold rallies and carry signs,” said to The Washington Post.
As the drug crisis continues, parents like Babcock and Kriege will use their children’s stories to raise awareness about this poisonous drug.
The U.S. has to make a choice: either let the drug problem control them or vow to put an end to the thousands of deaths that fentanyl has stolen over the last 20 years.