The United States had 107,622 drug deaths in 2021, a 15% increase of 13,967 from 93,655 in 2020. Almost the entirety of the increase is due to fentanyl. West Virginia had 1,194 fentanyl and other synthetic opioid deaths in 2021, up 10% from 1,083 in 2020.
This substance is now the No. 1 killer of adults aged 18-45.
There’s no question why state attorneys general are pushing the Biden administration to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. This deadly synthetic opioid is mainly being funneled through our unprotected southern border–Chinese chemical manufacturers are making and sending the raw ingredients to make fentanyl to Mexican drug cartels, which are in turn making and trafficking fentanyl on an industrial scale. But in the face of this evolving and significant problem, the federal government has seemed content to stand by. This is a matter of life or death and we need to treat it as such.
