Opioid abuse and addiction are inflicting a grave and growing toll on communities across the nation, leaving users and their loved ones looking for answers on how to curb the destruction.
There are numerous reasons the opioid epidemic has spread so far and wide, but there is no doubt the epidemic is made much worse by foreign drug cartels and smugglers that traffic deadly synthetic opioids to every corner of the United States.
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Opioid abuse and addiction are inflicting a grave and growing toll on communities across the nation, leaving users and their loved ones looking for answers on how to curb the destruction.
There are numerous reasons the opioid epidemic has spread so far and wide, but there is no doubt the epidemic is made much worse by foreign drug cartels and smugglers that traffic deadly synthetic opioids to every corner of the United States.
Law enforcement in Ogle County is fighting on the front lines to curb the opioid epidemic, but to truly fix the problem at the local level, federal lawmakers must come together to solve the crisis at the border.
In October 2017, President Trump declared opioid abuse a “national health emergency” and predicted that the epidemic would only get worse unless action was taken. Unfortunately, since the President’s declaration, federal lawmakers have failed to come together to take serious measures to prevent synthetic opioids from fueling the opioid epidemic.
The numbers tell the story – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that synthetic opioids are the cause of the sharpest increase in drug overdose deaths. From 2013 to 2016, deaths from fentanyl increased 520 percent. At the same time, deaths from prescription opioids have fallen. In fact, synthetic opioids now account for 75 percent of the opioid-related deaths in the country.
Fentanyl is fueling the opioid epidemic because it is so deadly. The drug is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. It can shut down breathing in less than a minute. A miniscule amount – the equivalent of four grains of salt – can be deadly. There are reports from around the country of innocent victims, first responders, and law enforcement being hospitalized because they inadvertently came in contact with the drug.