Category: News

Understanding the effects of fentanyl

Fentanyl is a highly addictive opioid drug that kills hundreds of Texans every year, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

Doctors can prescribe fentanyl to treat severe pain after surgery or for late-stage cancer. Most recent cases of fentanyl overdose are happening with illicit fentanyl, according to the CDC.

Fentanyl can be mixed into cocaine and methamphetamines and can be found in nasal sprays or eye drops. It can also be mixed in counterfeit pills that look like other prescription opioids, according to the CDC. As a result, people can ingest fentanyl without knowing, leading to accidental poisoning and even death.

Depending on a person’s weight and drug history, consuming even two milligrams of fentanyl—twice the weight of a paperclip—can be fatal.

Read the full article on MedicalExpress.com.

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Fentanyl seized in Carolinas increased 15000% in two years, federal data shows

Last year in both North and South Carolina, federal officers seized 18.75 pounds of the synthetic opioid. That’s more than they located the previous two years combined.

At least 2,500 North Carolinians died from fentanyl overdoses last year, according to the latest state data out this month. The data is only through September of 2022 as the state’s Department of Health and Human Services is still processing information for last year so it is likely this number will climb even higher.

The synthetic drug is now a major focus for law enforcement agencies across the state as it continues devastating communities in and families.

Over the last five years, the number of people dying from overdoses increased significantly. Fatal overdoses in North Carolina jumped 66% from 2018, state data shows. Last year, the crisis claimed the lives of more than 4200 people in the state.

“Fentanyl is really the most dangerous thing that we’ve seen in decades,” said Mike Prado, the deputy special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in the Carolinas.

Read the full story and watch the video on the WRAL TV web site.

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Rep. Buddy Carter Introduces Legislation To Classify People Who Died Of Fentanyl Poisoning As Crime Victims

Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter introduced legislation Tuesday that would classify Americans who died of fentanyl poisoning as crime victims.

The Daily Caller first obtained the legislation, which is titled the Recognizing Victims of Illicit Fentanyl Poisoning Act. The bill would add individuals who have died because of illicit fentanyl poisoning to the list of recognized victims maintained by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) within the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The OVC administers the Crime Victims Fund, which supports programs and services that focus on helping victims in the immediate aftermath of crimes and continuing to support them as they rebuild their lives.

Read the full article on the Daily Caller web site.

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Monday number: A closer look at the mounting toll of fentanyl on the nation’s youth

Last year, Policy Watch delved into the epidemic within the opioid epidemic: the terrifying rise of synthetic opioid fentanyl and staggering number of deaths it has caused in North Carolina and across the country.

This month a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data by the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl sheds new light on the ongoing crisis, particularly deaths among children 14 and under.

The group’s analysis found fentanyl deaths among that group are rising faster than any other, tripling nationwide in just two years from 2019 to 2021 (the last year for which full CDC data is available). Over the same period, fentanyl deaths among infants increased twice as fast as overall deaths.

Read the full article on NC Policy Watch.

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Local activist appears at Raleigh anti-fentanyl event

Jan. 23—RALEIGH — A number of activists from across the country met in Raleigh on Saturday for an event meant to raise awareness of fentanyl, including Oxford’s Patricia Drewes.

“Children are going to experiment [with drugs], but they should not have to pay for that experiment with their lives,” Drewes said. “And that’s what is happening. That’s what is happening in this country … Our children are being murdered, and poisoned in broad open daylight on American soil. And something has to be done.

Read the full article on the Henderson Dispatch web site (subscription required) or on Yahoo News.

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Triangle families ask for more to protect lives from Fentanyl

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Mitchico Duff described her daughter as kind and loving. Two years ago, Duff said she tragically lost her daughter, 22-year-old Machiko La’deja Duff, from fentanyl.

“I don’t want another mom to feel the way I feel, this is a nightmare, this is torture…” said Duff while attending a fentanyl awareness event Saturday near Downtown Raleigh.

“It took us a year to really find out what happened,” the Johnston County mother added. “We knew it was drugs involved but we didn’t know to the extent of what.”

Read the full story on the WNCN CBS17 web site.

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Parents, here are tips to save your teens from fentanyl

Pediatricians like me aren’t used to our patients dying. Most children and teens are healthy and thrive, and although some might experiment with drugs, teen overdoses are relatively uncommon. A rising threat, however, is forcing all of us – especially parents – to grapple with a new reality.

Scott Hadland

Scott Hadland

Just-released data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2021 more teens than ever before died of overdoses, driven by increasingly potent and dangerous drugs. Overdoses are now the third leading cause of death in US children under age 20, killing more than 1,100 teens each year – the equivalent of a school classroom every week.

Read the full article and watch the video on CNN.com.

What congress can do about illicit fentanyl

Photos of Americans who died from a fentanyl overdose are displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on July 13, 2022. (Photo by Agnes Bun/AFP via Getty Images)

On Jan. 3, a new U.S. Congress will be sworn into office for the 118th time in our nation’s history. Sadly, for the first time ever, these new and returning legislators will assume office under the dark milestone of more than 100,000 drug-related deaths in the past year — an all-time high. Congress can and must act quickly at the national level to turn this deadly tide. 

With drug-related fatalities at an all-time high and likely going higher, it’s clear that the status quo isn’t working. New policy approaches matched with recent innovations in treatment are necessary to overcome the stratospheric overdose rate. 

Read the full article on The Hill web site or download article PDF.

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Narcan kits installed in high schools to fight teen overdoses

A growing number of schools are installing kits stocked with naloxone, also known as Narcan, amid an alarming surge in teen overdoses. NBC News’ Morgan Radford reports from Camden County, New Jersey, to learn about one district’s plan to protect students as dangerous fentanyl becomes more prevalent.

View the original NBC News story on YouTube or the article and video on WRAL.com.

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