America’s fentanyl epidemic has become “even more unpredictable and lethal” as illegal drug producers shift to combining the highly addictive substance with synthetic opioids and sedatives, according to the U.S. government at the forefront of the 21st-century war on drugs.The Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert in mid-May of a new trend in how fentanyl was being introduced to U.S. consumers, both those seeking out fentanyl and unsuspecting users trying to buy other drugs. Fentanyl is increasingly being added to a variety of synthetic drugs, or artificially engineered, man-made chemicals, that are already powerful and potentially deadly.“The United States continues to face an unprecedented and evolving drug threat driven by illicit fentanyl, which is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances emerging in the illicit market,” the DEA said in an announcement. “These combinations are making an already deadly drug supply even more unpredictable and lethal.”
Just as the Trump administration has seen initial success cracking down on fentanyl at the border after fentanyl-related deaths hit an all-time high under the Biden administration, Washington faces a new era in the opioid epidemic.
