The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warns that Mexican-produced drugs, including fentanyl, will cause more fatalities than any other threat in the United States as overdose cases continue to rise.
In the agency's Homeland Threat Assessment for 2024, officials noted that on top of the enduring terrorism threat, they expect illegal drugs produced in Mexico and sold within the US to continue taking the lives of more Americans than any other threat the agency has identified.
DHS Warns of Mexican-Produced Drugs
The assessment added that in the past year, U.S.-based traffickers have become even more involved in the mixing and pressing of fentanyl, contributing to more lethal mixes of what is already considered to be a deadly drug.
The situation comes as there were more than 100,000 overdose deaths last year, with roughly three-quarters being tied to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. This drug is produced in Mexico using Chinese precursors and transported across the southern land border. As per Fox News, the drug is considered fatal in small doses and is often pressed into fake pills, so the user is unaware of what they are ingesting.
The agency's assessment also said that seizures of fentanyl at the border continue to rise through 2023. Additionally, Customs and Border Protection is on track to seize a record amount of the drug, even after seizures of other drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, remain steady or are on the decline.
Officials also said that these other drugs are continuously mixed with fentanyl, and the agency's report warned that drug traffickers in the US have gained much more influence over the composition of the pills and have already distributed more deadly mixtures into various communities.
The DHS noted that fentanyl has appeared more frequently in counterfeit prescription pills, including Adderall and Xanax, combinations that raise the risk of overdose, particularly among unwitting users.
Rising Number of Overdose Cases
The assessment comes as the US is in the throes of what researchers call a "fourth wave" of the opioid crisis. This is a phase that is characterized by overdose deaths caused by the combination of stimulants and powerful synthetic opioids, according to NBC News.
From 2010 to 2021, the proportion of overdoses involving fentanyl and a stimulant has increased more than fiftyfold. The numbers were released by a study published on Thursday in the journal Addiction.
The lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles' David Geffen School of Medicine, Joseph Friedman, said that the US is seeing the use of fentanyl together with stimulants become the dominant force in the overdose crisis.
The study's senior author, Chelsea Shover, said that understanding how people use drugs is crucial in stopping the overdose crisis and helping people get the treatment they need. Over the years, awareness of effective medical treatments for opioid addiction, including drugs like suboxone and methadone, said NPR.
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