Fentanyl deaths dip in 2023, but epidemic remains a grave concern

In the United States, fentanyl is the leading cause of most drug overdose deaths. It is often added to other drugs, increasing its danger. The scale of deaths shown in the graphs is terrifying.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used to combat highly severe pain. Fentanyl is a substance similar to morphine but about one hundred times more potent and about 50 times stronger than heroin. The synthetic drug epidemic has also reached Poland, but for over two decades, it has mainly been a problem in the United States.

The number of deaths caused by fentanyl overdoses in the USA from 1999 to 2022 is enormous. In 2022 alone, about 73,838 people died.

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This was the highest number of deaths from fentanyl overdoses ever recorded in the United States, and a significant increase compared to the number of deaths reported in 2019.

Fentanyl overdose is currently the main driver of the opioid epidemic and is responsible for most overdose deaths in the United States.

According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is one hundred times more potent than morphine and becomes addictive much faster than heroin. Just a 0.09-ounce pinch of the pure substance is a lethal dose.

Americans look at all the statistics with horror. According to the "New York Times," more Americans died from fentanyl in one year than the total number of Americans killed during the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam.

It is worth noting that the total number of fentanyl-related deaths slightly decreased in 2023, from 73,838 to 71,702. Meanwhile, the number of fatal overdoses of psychostimulants (including methamphetamine) and cocaine increased from 63,991 to 66,169.

As the graph shows, back in 1999, this number was 730 deaths. The first significant increase appeared in 2015 (9,580 deaths), and the worst year in this regard was 2022.

Researchers indicate that smoking or inhaling fentanyl allows the drug to reach the brain faster and in much higher concentrations.

This, in turn, justifies the assumption that it may be a more dangerous method of drug use, leading to severe damage. At the same time, they add that the significance of the substance itself cannot be underestimated.

Researchers do not hide that they expect confirmation of more cases of leukoencephalopathy in the near future, as the number of fentanyl use cases increases.

There are also data indicating that in the United States, more people die from smoking illegal drugs than from injecting them.