Overdose deaths spurred by fake pills containing fentanyl — and some are designed to look like candy, DEA says

An rising variety of fake prescription pills that include probably lethal fentanyl are serving to drive overdose demise charges to document ranges within the U.S., together with some now manufactured in rainbow colours designed to look like sweet, federal officers stated Tuesday.  

Drug Enforcement Administration brokers are working to crack down on violent drug cartels in Mexico believed to be trafficking the medication into the U.S., Attorney General Merrick Garland stated. Between May and September, the DEA and native police across the nation seized greater than 10 million fentanyl pills and a whole bunch of kilos of powder, he stated.

Vastly highly effective artificial medication like fentanyl are behind document overdose deaths within the U.S. Law enforcement officers nationwide have been struggling to fight the surge of medicine in city and rural communities. The international coronavirus pandemic has overshadowed the American opioid epidemic, however when overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in the course of the 12-month interval ending in April 2021, it rocketed again into the general public consciousness.

“I read too many reports on too many cases, including too many young people who ended up dying after taking just one pill laced with fentanyl, often disguised as something else,” Garland stated.

First reported in February, the rainbow pills have been seized in 21 states now, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram stated. While fentanyl remains to be extra generally disguised as oxycodone or one other prescription drug, the rainbow pills are on the rise.

“We believe it is being marketed and aimed at young people,” Milgram stated.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., additionally sounded the alarm this weekend in regards to the rise of the drug in New York City and Long Island as he pushed for brand new funding to struggle its unfold.

Two Mexican drug cartels are accountable for almost all of fentanyl within the U.S., federal authorities stated. The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel purchase precursor chemical compounds from China, then site visitors them into the U.S., the place they are generally bought on social media platforms.

“Those cartels are acting with calculated, deliberate treachery to get fentanyl to the United States and to get people to buy it through fake pills, by hiding it in other drugs, any means that they can take in order to drive addiction and to make money,”  Milgram advised “CBS Mornings” this month.

The Department of Justice considers the Jalisco cartel to be “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.” The cartel’s chief, Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho,” is among the many most sought by Mexican and U.S. authorities.

Over the final 4 months, authorities have investigated almost 400 circumstances, 51 of them linked to overdoses and 35 tied immediately to the 2 cartels. In addition to being pressed into fake pills, fentanyl powder can also be moved into different medication like cocaine and heroin, Milgram stated.

“Our top operational priority has been and will continue to be to defeat these two cartels,” she stated.

Fentanyl is an artificial opioid that may be 50 instances stronger than heroin, and even a tiny quantity might be deadly. Fake prescription pills are particularly harmful as a result of it is troublesome to inform how robust they are.

About two-thirds of overdose deaths within the U.S. have been linked to fentanyl or different highly effective, illicitly made artificial opioids.

Jonathan Caulkins, a professor of operations analysis and public coverage at Carnegie Mellon University, stated containing synthetics with regulation enforcement is a problem as a result of the drug might be made in labs anyplace relatively than grown in fields like cocaine or heroin – and as a result of it’s so potent and is trafficked in smaller quantities.

“How the heck is law enforcement supposed to find a few metric tons in an economy that trades megatons of raw materials?” Caulkins requested.

Caulkins stated one of the best methods to take care of the fentanyl disaster is to put cash towards therapy and rising the provision of naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses – however added that utilizing arrests to cut back the provision could also be value making an attempt.