American drug-related overdose deaths are soaring from fentanyl, a powerful synthetic drug that originates from China and enters the United States’ unsealed border with Mexico, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“For the first time, more than 100,000 Americans had died of drug overdoses over a 12-month period,” the Associated Press (AP) reported. “About two-thirds of the deaths were linked to fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, heroin or prescription opioids.”
In some states, possession with intent to distribute less than 14 grams of fentanyl is a two-year prison-worthy offense. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the drug is so potent that 14 grams can constitute 700 deadly doses.
The AP also acknowledged that fentanyl originates from China, then moves through Mexico, and thereby enters the rustbelt states. The states most impacted by fentanyl are West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio — all rural states with dominant white populations.
“The Texas Military Department said that from March 2021 through earlier this month, its troops near the border confiscated more than 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of fentanyl,” the AP reported. “By comparison, federal authorities reported confiscating about 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) in 2021 — still a fraction of what entered the country.”
via unsilencednews