Fentanyl in the USA: a visual guide

Fentanyl in the USA: a visual guide

fentanyl is a strong synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. It can be prescribed in formal medical contexts to relieve acute pain and treat breakthrough pain if painkillers acting for longer are not sufficient. Injections can be used during or after surgery, while plaster helps to treat persistent pain in patients who may have become tolerant compared to other treatments. Fentanyl can also be administered by sucking tablets.

The risk of fentanyl in the drug market

However, Fentany has developed into the most common drug, which is associated with overdose deaths in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified this as the "third wave" of the opioid overdose epidemic. Fentanyl is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and its high potency enables the delivery to extend far, which makes it an attractive option on the illegal market. Illegal fentanyl is typically found in the form of powder or as fake pills that look like prescription opioids. It can also be mixed with other drugs like heroin to increase potency and reduce costs.

political measures and effects

President Donald Trump uses the drug crisis as a central justification for tums on goods from Mexico, Canada and China. A government information sheet says that "the river of smuggling drugs such as Fentanyl to the United States has created a national emergency and a public health crisis through illegal sales networks." The tariffs on Mexico and Canada were suspended for 30 days after the countries had promised to strengthen border security. One inch of 10% on goods from China came into force in early February.

origin of the fentanyl offer

The USA import most of the medical fentanyl directly from China in finished form. The illegal offer in the USA also originated in China. Initially, the illegal fentanyl was delivered directly from China to the USA, but it has developed into different currents over time. There are no signs that legal fentanyl is redirected to the black market. Large deliveries of precursors for illegal fentanyl are sent from China to Mexico, where they are processed in laboratories before the end product is illegally smuggled across the border.

The role of the Mexican cartels

Mexican cartels use established drug trade routes that have long existed, often by legal border crossings using US citizens who are recruited as "mulis". According to data from the US customs and border protection, almost 10,000 kilograms of fentanyl were confiscated at the US boundaries in the financial year 2024. Almost everything - about 97% - was confiscated on the southwestern border. The seizures in Tucson, Arizona, made up more than half, while another 30% in San Diego occurred.

changes in the overdose trend

Despite the increasing confiscations of illegal fentanyl, experts show that drug supply changes again. The drug market is dynamic and can develop quickly to react to various factors of supply and demand. According to the CDC, the first wave of opioid overdose epidemic began in the 1990s with the abuse of prescription opioids. Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have a billion-dollar Evaluation to solve thousands of complaints that claim that the pain reliever oxycontin has a widespread Opioid dependency in the USA.

Some experts suggest that a " Fourth of the opioid epidemia is in the case Illegal fentanyl is more often mixed with other drugs. The combination of fentanyl and stimulants can be particularly dangerous. During the time when the overdoses decreased with opioids, cases with cocaine and psychostimulating drugs such as methamphetamine rose according to the preliminary data of the CDC.

experts agree that it is difficult to attribute the rapid decline of overdose dead to a single factor. It is probably the result of a variety of continuous efforts that begin to have an effect. Substances that have been analyzed recently showed a slight decline in the average purity of fentanyl powder. Under President Joe Biden, the US health authority has a coordinated national strategy to prevent overdoses that are based on damage minimization, treatment, treatment and recovery concentrated. Dr. Sarah Wakeman, the medical director of substance use disorders at Mass General Brigham, said in September to CNN that "the treatment of this problem could finally start as a public health question of so many years".