The Epidemic of Fentanyl in the United States

What Has Caused the Rise in Fentanyl in the U.S.?

Several factors have contributed to the fentanyl epidemic in the U.S. These elements have combined to create a “perfect storm” that impacts millions of people, disrupting lives, tearing apart families, and cutting short the lives of many.

Fentanyl is More Potent than Heroin

When looking at the strength of fentanyl vs. heroin, the synthetic opioid is up to 50 times more potent and 100 times stronger than morphine. Its potency makes it a prime supplement for dealers looking to cut the cost of heroin production and enhance the high by adding small amounts of fentanyl to their blend.

Synthetic Opioids are Cheap

A dose of synthetic opioids costs far less than their natural cousin, heroin. While fentanyl was once primarily used to supplement the high of heroin, many markets in the U.S. and Canada are now seeing it replace heroin entirely.

Fentanyl is Becoming Easier to Market

Sellers have taken advantage of the extended reach, relative anonymity, and proliferation of information on the internet to manufacture and distribute fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

More accessible and efficient methods of combining drugs are just a few keystrokes away for those who want to manufacture synthetic opioids. Online shopping has expanded distribution networks that were once limited by geography. Anyone with access to the Web sand a mailing address is now a potential customer for even the least tech-savvy dealer.

Where is Illicit Fentanyl Coming From?

U.S. officials state that China remains the primary source of raw materials sold to Mexican drug cartels who manufacture synthetic opioids and traffic them to the United States.

The cartels press the product into pills that look like Xanax, Adderall, or oxycodone. These counterfeit drugs are sold to unsuspecting buyers who assume they are purchasing street versions of prescription drugs or heroin and often overdose.

While Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, India has recently become a player in the market, producing finished fentanyl powder and other chemicals used to manufacture the substance.

How is Fentanyl Entering & Spreading Throughout the Country?

While much has been made of securing the Mexico/U.S. border with a wall or fencing, the effort has no effect on the trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico. Drug traffickers hide their products in plain sight in private cars and commercial vehicles to smuggle them over the border at legal ports of entry. People are also walking products over the border.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the amount of fentanyl seized by the agency skyrocketed from 2020 to 2022. In the fiscal year ending September 2022, CBP seized a record 14,700 pounds of fentanyl, compared with 11,200 pounds in 2021 and 4,800 pounds in 2020.

Still, the agency only inspects 1 to 6% of the cars that flow through border crossings, leading one to wonder just how much fentanyl and other illicit drugs make it into the U.S.

Overdose & Death Statistics

Fentanyl’s potency places users  — intentional or otherwise — at high for overdose. Just two milligrams of the synthetic opioid — equivalent to 10–15 grains of table salt — can prove lethal.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 100,000 people died from drug overdose in 2021, and illicit fentanyl was responsible for more than 60% of them. That same year, there were almost 123,000 fentanyl-related emergency department visits. Those numbers reveal a significant increase over the past several years.