DRUGS
U.S. in grip of “fourth wave” of fentanyl crisis
September 19, 2023 - Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid vastly more potent than morphine, is linked to two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the United States, as a “fourth wave” grips the nation.
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More Americans than ever are dying from fentanyl overdoses as a fourth wave of the opioid epidemic gathers pace.
In 2021, the United States passed the grim milestone of more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in a single year, with two thirds of them linked to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
In 2010, less than 40,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S., with less than 10% of those linked to fentanyl.
The pharmaceutical drug can be prescribed by a doctor to treat severe pain, but is also illegally manufactured and sold by criminal gangs, mostly trafficked from Mexico, using Chinese ingredients.
The increase in fentanyl deaths can be attributed to the drug being mixed with other stimulants, like cocaine or methamphetamine, to produce a longer high – an epoch that began in 2015, and known as the “fourth wave” of the overdose crisis.
Once considered a “white problem”, African Americans are now dying from a combination of fentanyl and other drugs at higher rates, across multiple age groups and geographical lines.