The deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl is fueling the spike in overdose deaths across the country, but where is the drug coming from? As law enforcement and investigators try to stop the flow, they say that both fentanyl and fentanyl-laced contaminated drugs made to look like prescription medications and illicit drugs are coming in from China and across the U.S.-Mexican border. Despite government crackdowns on production in China, experts say drug suppliers there send the ingredients to Mexican cartels who make the drug either in raw powder or pill form and then ship them across the border in trucks. Last year more than 11,000 pounds of fentanyl made its way into the U.S., and more than half of that came through the border of Mexico and San Diego. More than 107,000 individuals died of a drug overdose over the past 12-months—a record—with many victims unknowingly taking drugs they believed were Xanax or heroin and the like but were contaminated with lethal doses of fentanyl.
Meanwhile, overdose deaths are surging among many ethnic groups, including Blacks, and a recent study found that the fatality rate is also spiking for Indigenous Americans, with fatalities increasing five-fold from 1999 to 2019, while the number has quadrupled nationwide. The study looked at overdose deaths attributed to opioids in combination with alcohol and other drugs such as meth, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, and deaths linked to specific types of opioids among American Indians and Alaska natives aged 12 and older.
And finally, Washington State has reached a $518 million agreement with the nation’s large drug distributors for their role in the opioid crisis. Under the settlement with McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, the state is obliged to spend $476 of the total to address the crisis, including on substance abuse treatment, expanding access to overdose-reversal drugs, and providing housing, job placement, and other services to those struggling with addiction. The deal came months into a complex trial in Washinton against the drug distributors after the state decided not to participate in a national settlement reached last summer with these companies and Johnson & Johnson. Other trials are underway in West Virginia, Florida, and California as part of far-reach opioid litigation involving thousands of cases, many of which have been settled out of court for hundreds of millions of dollars, and will be used for prevention, education, and drug treatment.