A nonprofit organization’s analysis of government data estimates drug overdose deaths increased 1.7% in 2023 to reach a new record high.
The CDC estimates that more than 111,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period that ended in April. More than 77,000 of those deaths involved fentanyl and other synthetic opioids other than methadone. Both are record highs and increases over the prior year, according to Families Against Fentanyl.Â
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Children under age 14 are dying from fentanyl poisoning at a faster rate than any other age group in the U.S., according to a new analysis from Families Against Fentanyl.
In the past two years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among children surged.
Fentanyl-related deaths among infants (children under age one) quadrupled from 2019 to 2021; more than tripled among children between the ages of 1 and 4 and nearly quadrupled among children between the ages of 5 and 14.
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Officials are investigating a recent death of a five-year-old child, indicating the young individual likely died of fentanyl poisoning.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office provided an update on the case after the child was found dead last week.
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Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden, urging the Democratic leaders to take action to curb the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
“From 2019 to 2020, drug overdose deaths jumped from 70,630 to 91,794, driven by 20,000 more deaths attributed to synthetic opioid fentanyl and its deadlier analogs. In fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents seized over 11,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border, a 42 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Our country cannot tolerate another year of surging overdose deaths. It is past time to fight back,” he wrote in the letter to Pelosi.
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U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) introduced a new bill to strengthen the penalty for drug traffickers, specifically those who distribute fentanyl.
The legislation, known as the Fentanyl Trafficker Elimination Act, establishes a life sentences for individuals convicted of intentionally trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl analogues
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An Akron man whose son died of an overdose in 2015 is on a crusade to take fentanyl, a ultra-lethal drug manufactured mostly in China and by Mexican cartels, off the streets for good.
Motivated by his son’s tragic death, James Rauh founded an organization called Families Against Fentanyl, which is taking a unique approach to fighting the manufacture and import of that drug.Â
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