Drug Overdose Deaths Reached Highest Level Ever in 2020, with Fentanyl a Key Factor
As long as the border is in chaos, the deadly drug will keep flowing in and kill even more
By Andrew R. Arthur on July 16, 2021
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) this week released its “Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts” for 2020. As AP explained the dry CDC numbers, drug overdoses hit a new estimated high of 93,000 last year, with fentanyl driving the surge. With the Southwest border in chaos as migrant apprehensions reach 21-year highs, this year’s total will likely be higher.
As I have explained numerous times in the past (including to Congress, twice), fentanyl is an incredibly dangerous — and deadly drug. The Drug Enforcement Administration describes it as “80-100 times stronger than morphine”. Oxford Treatment Center reports that two milligrams of the drug is a lethal dose for most people (heavy-duty users can handle more).
AP explains that the drug “was involved in more than 60% of the overdose deaths last year, CDC data suggests.” That “involvement” is interesting in and of itself, because fentanyl is now being mixed with other “hard drugs” like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine to make them even more potent.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Drug-Overdose-Deaths-Reached-Highest-Level-Ever-2020-Fentanyl-Key-Factor