fentanyl crisis
Synthetic opioid emergency
The fentanyl crisis refers to the surge in overdose deaths caused by illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid fifty to one hundred times more potent than morphine.
Beginning around 2013, fentanyl began contaminating heroin and counterfeit pills, often without users' knowledge.
The crisis has driven U.S. overdose deaths past 100,000 annually: The fentanyl crisis has devastated rural communities.
Much of the supply originates from precursors manufactured in China and processed in Mexico.
- overdoseHarmful excess intake
- naloxoneOpioid overdose antidote
- opioidMorphine-class analgesic
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- public healthCommunity-level disease prevention
heroin · addiction · harm reduction · safe injection site · test strips · carfentanil · trafficking · deaths · synthetic · painkiller · emergency · needle · pills · pill press · withdrawal · rehab · dealer · street
- Drug Scandalsthalidomide, fen-phen, OxyContin, opioid epidemic, drug recalls
- addictionaddiction, drug addiction, substance abuse, drug dependence, substance dependency
- drug policynarcotics, drug reform, drug enforcement, drug policy, decriminalization
- borderlandsborderland, borderlands, border, border zone, border region