Fentanyl

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports last year fentanyl was identified in 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths. The synthetic drug is making its way through legal ports at the southern border. A senior official with the U.S. Custom and Border agency states two-thirds of those arrested for smuggling the drug are Americans. What bipartisan strategy would you suggest to curb the flow into the U.S. and address community-based treatment and prevention programs?

• National surveys compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already show an unprecedented decline in drug deaths of roughly 10.6 percent. That’s a huge reversal from recent years when fatal overdoses regularly increased by double-digit percentages. (NPR)
• Fentanyl was originally designed for hospital patients in extreme pain. Now it’s in practically every community across the United States. (CBS News)
• Most fentanyl is being trafficked by American citizens, not migrants. Data from the United States Sentencing Commission shows that 86.4 percent of those sentenced for trafficking fentanyl were U.S. citizens. Among non-citizens, the data includes those lawfully present and undocumented.(Kaiser Family Foundation)
• Every day, in communities around the nation, it is estimated that synthetic drugs like illicit fentanyl are taking the lives of more than 200 Americans. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
• More than 90% of interdicted fentanyl is stopped at Ports of Entry (POEs), where cartels attempt to smuggle it primarily in vehicles driven by U.S. citizens.(U.S. Customs and Border Protection)