Opioid crisis in the US assumes dramatic proportions

Washington The opioid crisis in the US is getting worse and worse. Never before have so many people died from a drug overdose as last year: 107,622. So, on average, one person dies from an overdose every five minutes, 295 every day.

One substance is the main cause of this: fentanyl. A total of 71,238 people, i.e. two thirds of all drug-related deaths, died from it in 2021. The number has almost doubled since 2019. Fentanyl kills more people in the United States than accidents, gun violence, or suicide.

Fentanyl is an opioid, i.e. a synthetically manufactured substance that has a pain-relieving effect similar to morphine. However, fentanyl is much more potent than other opioids: it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. The danger of an overdose is therefore great, only two milligrams are enough for an overdose.