The DEA recognized Aug. 21 as National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day to address the country's "most dangerous drug threat," Anne Milgram, DEA administrator, said in an Aug. 17 news release from the DEA.
Over 58.3 million pills containing fentanyl and over 13,000 pounds of fentanyl powder were confiscated by the DEA in 2022. This amount of fentanyl is enough to make up an estimated 387.9 million deadly doses, as only two milligrams of fentanyl is deemed a potentially lethal dose.
Fentanyl is more concentrated than other synthetic opioids, as it is approximately 50 and 100 times more potent than heroin and morphine, respectively. As fentanyl is highly addictive, drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other drugs to increase levels of addiction and drive repeat business.
"The withdrawal from it is absolutely crippling. You think about the worst flu that you've ever experienced. Multiply that by 1,000," Brian Jarman, manager of the detox and sober unit at the Wichita-based Substance Abuse Center of Kansas, said in an Aug. 21 report from ksn.com.
An estimate of 110,511 people died of drug overdoses and poisonings in the U.S. throughout 2022, according to the CDC. Seventy percent of those deaths were the result of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and many victims of fentanyl poisoning were unknowingly ingesting fentanyl.
"Spreading awareness about the dangers and deadly realities of fentanyl is critically important in this fight to save lives," Ms. Milgram said in the DEA news release. "The dedicated men and women of the DEA know their job is far from over."