Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, according to an analysis covering overdose cases in America.
Families Against Fentanyl, the research organization, revealed that the drug has claimed more lives since 2020 than Covid-19, suicide, and car accidents.
In 2020, the nation recoded 37,208 fentanyl deaths and 41,587 in 2021 between the studied age ranges, according to the organization. Fentanyl is not a pure drug made of monolithic ingredients. In fact, the narcotic is often laced in a mixture of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, xanax, oxycontin, and marijuana. One person dies from fentanyl overdose every 8.57 minutes, contributing to a 64 percent responsibility rate for total drug fatalities.
Fentanyl is primarily produced in China, transported in large quantities to Mexico, and then smuggled across our southern border. While Joe Biden has done nothing to curtail the deadly substance, the state of Texas has taken matters into its own hands.
In effort to combat the infiltration, the Texas National Guard and Texas Dept. of Public Safety are cracking down on drug runners. In November, Texas authorities intercepted enough fentanyl to “kill everyone in Texas, California, and New York,” tweeted Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas.
Taking advantage of the Biden administration’s open border policy, the Mexican cartels have been incentivized without fear of consequence for bringing the drugs into the United States. More than 11,000 pounds of fentanyl has been seized by Customs and Border Protection, making the fentanyl the number one trafficked drug of 2021.
Without any help from the Oval Office to mitigate the flood of death producing substances pouring across the border, Texas has begun adding to the border wall that was constructed under President Trump. In December, Gov. Abbott held a press conference to celebrate the new border wall construction in Rio Grande City, Texas. “Texas is taking what truly is unprecedented action by any state ever,” said Abbot.
Fentanyl’s destruction across the country adds only more justification for why we need strict border policies, and proves that every town, no matter the location, is a border town.
