According to an analysis of U.S. government records, Fentanyl poising death rates doubled between 2019 and 2021.
The Analysis by Families Against Fentanyl, which shows five states, including Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alaska, showed a fivefold increase in fentanyl-related deaths.
“The fentanyl crisis has become worse than it has improved. Fake pills containing deadly levels of fentanyl appear everywhere. Fake Xanax, Percocets and other fake drugs containing fentanyl are being sold all over the place. They also contain cocaine and ecstasy. One pill can kill,” James Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, stated in a Thursday statement. Rauh lost his son to fentanyl poisoning.
Even small amounts of synthetic opioid can cause death. Other drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines can also be laced in the drug. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the main sources of fentanyl entering the United States are Mexico and China.
Rauh stated that “Fentanyl poisoning” is destroying families and killing young people at alarming rates. This stuff is so dangerous it can be used as a chemical weapons. Accidentally poisoning babies and young children has led to the death of many. It is not right to be on our streets. Washington’s leaders must do more.
Alaska, Colorado and Louisiana Mississippi were among the 30 states where fentanyl-related deaths increased by more than twice in two years.
Florida had the highest number (2021) of total fentanyl poising-related deaths in the U.S.
West Virginia had the highest per capita number of deaths from fentanyl poisoning last year. Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island followed.
Ohio has had more fentanyl-related deaths than any other state since 2015. It has lost nearly 20,000 people due to this dangerous opioid.
Louisiana has experienced the largest jump in fentanyl deaths since 2015 (2.363%). Next are Arizona (2.172%), California (2.137%), Indiana (1.370%), Minnesota (1.189%), and Washington (1.169%).
Families Against Fentanyl published a December 2021 analysis that showed that fentanyl death rates have risen to the top. The number one cause of death for U.S. adults aged 18 to 45 was fentanyl.
It is time to treat fentanyl overdoses as vigorously and with the same approach as the coronavirus. It’s heartbreaking to have to treat overdosed babies or people who didn’t know their pills or powder were contaminated with a deadly drug,” Dr. Ronet Lev, an emergency physician and former Chief Med Officer of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy stated in a statement.
Lev said, “Fentanyl overdoses can be treated as a way to bring back a person from the grave.” Although I try my best as an emergency physician, we don’t always succeed. Fentanyl suppliers prey on our society’s vulnerable.
