The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized this year 379 million life-threatening doses of fentanyl, “enough to kill all American citizens.” As reported by the agency’s director, Anne Milgram, this is double the amount seized in 2021, when more than 100,000 people died in the country from overdoses.
Specifically, so far in 2022 the DEA has seized more than 4,500 kilograms of the drug, and synthetic opioid, similar to morphine but much more potent, which is linked to the majority of opioid overdose deaths in USA.
In his note this Tuesday, Milgram explained that the DEA’s “top priority” is to end the Mexican cartels of Jalisco and Sinaloa, the main people responsible for drug trafficking across the US border.
According to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, many dealers use fentanyl in the manufacture of other narcotics, since much less is needed to produce the feeling of being high, making the process cheaper.
Las overdoses in adolescents aged 10 to 18 doubled in the United States between 2019 and 2021, sAccording to a study published by the health authorities, which warned of the danger of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin.
The average monthly rate of adolescent overdose increased by 109% between those years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes. And the number of illegally manufactured fentanyl overdoses has increased by 182%.
In general, adolescents used fewer illicit drugs during this period, suggesting that the increase in deaths is probably due to “more powerful drugs”. Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, is produced cheaply in the laboratory. Those who enter the United States come mainly from Mexicowhere it is produced with precursors from China, according to official US sources.
This drug has flooded the streets of the country. According to the study, about a quarter of teen overdoses are due to counterfeit pills, often called oxycodone (a pain reliever) or alprazolam (an anxiolytic sometimes known as Xanax). A possibly underestimated percentage.
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“The proliferation of counterfeit pills that look like prescription drugs but actually contain illegally manufactured fentanyl, and the ease with which they can be purchased on social media have increased the risk of fatal overdose among adolescents,” health authorities warned.
According to them, it is not clear if the adolescents believed they were taking medicines or knew they were counterfeits. Between July 2019 and December 2021 there is evidence of 1,808 adolescent overdoses in 31 US states and the capital.
The average number of deaths per month was 32.5 between July and December 2019. It rose to 68 per month during the same period in 2021. That is, an increase of 109%.
“Urgent efforts are needed” to prevent these deaths, said the CDC, the nation’s main public health agency. To do this, they recommend strengthening preventive campaigns and explaining to adolescents that there are tests to detect the presence of fentanyl and an antidote, naloxone, which can block the effect of opioids.