- Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is now the deadliest drug in the United States, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [BuzzFeed / Dan Vergano]
- That drug and related synthetic opioids like carfentanil were responsible for about 21,000 deaths out of 65,000 total deaths from heroin, cocaine, and prescription painkillers, from January 2016 to January 2017. This is notable, given that fentanyl has only been around for about five years. [BuzzFeed / Dan Vergano]
- It's already well-known in some states, having caused rashes of overdoses in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio. New Hampshire, which has one of the highest per capita drug overdose death rates in the nation, saw a full two-thirds of its drug deaths come from fentanyl in 2016. [Concord Monitor / Ella Nilsen]
- The drug is so deadly because of its potency; it's anywhere from 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. [Centers for Disease Control]
- And it can easily be slipped into a batch of heroin, so sometimes drug users don’t know what they're taking. Often, drug dealers try to cut their batches of heroin with fentanyl to increase the potency of the drug and their profits. [STAT / Allison Bond]
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