Fentanyl Hybrids, Proxies Could Make 2023 Even Deadlier in America’s Opioids Crisis: Ex-DEA Official

Three quarters of all drug overdose deaths in the US since 2020 have involved an opioid, with fatalities involving the drug topping 108,000 in 2021. The deaths contributed to America’s declining life expectancy, which the CDC warning in a recent report that life expectancy had dropped more between 2019 and 2021 than at any other time since 1923.

The deadly opioids epidemic plaguing the US, which has contributed heavily to the one million+ overdose deaths the nation has suffered over the 20 years, may get worse in 2023 with the arrival of new fentanyl substitutes and even deadlier hybrids, such as opioids laced with heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine, former DEA deputy chief of staff Jim Crotty has warned, citing fresh Centers for Disease Control data.

In a report for Washington beltway media, the expert pointed out that the US Drug Enforcement Administration has recently determined that six in every ten fake fentanyl-laced prescription pills analyzed in 2022 contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl – above the 2021 dataset, in which four in ten fake prescriptions contained a lethal dose.

Authorities are also struggling to catch up with drug traffickers’ deadly resourcefulness in cooking up new varieties of narcotic substances, such as tranq dope – fentanyl mixed with the animal tranquilizer xylazine, known to cause severe breakouts of skin ulcers, and even result in users requiring their limbs to be amputated.

Isotonitazene and U-47700, two other synthetic opioids with effects similar to fentanyl, are also being pushed by dealers as a substitute to fentanyl proper, Crotty indicated.

Crotty characterized the opioids crisis as “among the most destructive events in American history and perhaps the least understood,” and urged authorities to permanently schedule fentanyl-linked substances under the Controlled Substances Act, and provide additional resources for prevention and treatment, such as methadone, naloxone and telehealth resources. The drug expert also urged the federal government to do more to seize fentanyl coming into the US via its porous border with Mexico.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release earlier this month that they had seized over 379 million potentially fatal doses of fentanyl in 2022, enough to kill every man woman and child in the United States.

The fentanyl-linked drugs crisis pummeling the US has also contributed to the country’s worst drop in life expectancy in 100 years, according to CDC data.