More Americans than ever are dying from fentanyl overdoses as the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic sweeps through every corner of the country and every community.
It was six years ago that Kim Blake’s son Sean died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in Burlington, Vermont. He was 27 years old.
“Every time I hear about the losses caused by drug use, my heart breaks even more,” Blake wrote in a blog dedicated to her son in 2021.
“Another family has been destroyed. The loss of dreams and celebrations will forever be felt.”
That year, the United States reached a tragic milestone. For the first time in history, drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 people in the United States in one year.
Of those deaths, more than 66% were related to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
It’s a clear difference from 10 years ago. In 2010, fewer than 40,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States, and less than 10% of those deaths were related to fentanyl.
At the time, the main cause of death was heroin and prescription opioid use.
Here’s an overview of contrasts: Research published this week A study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) used data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine trends in overdose deaths in the United States from 2010 to 2021.
This data clearly demonstrates how fentanyl has redefined drug overdoses in America over the past decade.
“The rise in illegally manufactured fentanyl has ushered in an overdose crisis of unprecedented proportions in the United States,” the study authors wrote.
From Hawaii to Alaska to Rhode Island, virtually every corner of the United States has been affected by fentanyl.
According to the data, an increase in fentanyl-related deaths was first observed in 2015.
Since then, the drug has spread across the United States, and death rates have skyrocketed.
“In 2018, about 80% of fentanyl overdoses occurred east of the Mississippi River,” Chelsea Shober, assistant professor of medicine at UCLA and co-author of the study, told the BBC.
But in 2019, “fentanyl became part of the drug supply in the western United States, and this population that had been isolated from fentanyl was suddenly exposed and mortality rates began to rise,” Professor Shober said.
In their study, researchers flagged another growing trend: deaths related to the use of fentanyl and other stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
This trend is observed across the United States, albeit in different ways because drug use patterns vary by region.
For example, researchers found that states in the northeastern United States, such as Vermont and Connecticut, where cocaine has traditionally been more available, had higher death rates associated with fentanyl and cocaine use.
But in virtually the rest of the country, from West Virginia to California, the primary cause of death was the use of both methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Blake, who is also a trained medical doctor, said her son had been using cocaine sporadically, but a toxicology report found only fentanyl was present in his system.
She learned that many people use fentanyl with other stimulants for a long-term high.
“It’s no surprise to me that we’re seeing such an increase in the use of stimulants and opioids,” Blake told the BBC.
When fentanyl first arrived in the United States as part of the illegal drug supply, “a lot of people didn’t want it,” Professor Schober said. However, synthetic opiates have become widely available because they are cheaper to produce than other drugs.
It is also highly addictive, so people who struggle with drug use and are exposed to drugs often seek it out to avoid painful withdrawal.
Across the United States, the study identified states such as Alaska, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and California as having the highest rates of overdose deaths from fentanyl and other drugs.
Schober said these states have historically had high rates of drug use. With the advent of fentanyl, drug use in these areas has become more deadly.
It’s no longer just a “white person problem”
The opioid crisis has traditionally been portrayed as a “white man’s problem,” Professor Schober said.
However, her research revealed that African Americans are dying at higher rates from the combination of fentanyl and other drugs, across age groups and geographic boundaries.
For Rashida Watts-Pearson, an Ohio-based harm reduction expert, the data reflects what she’s seeing in her area.
She works in advocacy with A1 Stigma Free, a grassroots organization founded just eight months ago to address the glaring increase in overdose deaths within Cincinnati’s African American community.
As part of her job, Watts-Pearson frequently visits barbershops, bars and grocery stores to talk to people about the deadly effects of fentanyl.
She said this is due to a lack of awareness, which is partially due to historical health care disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minority groups.
Even marketing campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the opioid crisis don’t incorporate the experiences of Black Americans, she says.
“You can drive through Avondale now and there’s a sign that says ‘Opioid Crisis,’ and there are two white people on that sign,” Watts-Pearson said.
She said a big blind spot for her community is street drugs, including fentanyl, which are leading people to unknowingly use and develop addictions to deadly synthetic opioids. Ta.
“The coroner’s office is seeing people die from overdoses with traces of cocaine, crack, pills and fentanyl,” she said.
“It’s permeated the Black community now, and not enough people are talking about it.”
fourth wave
Researchers said the deadly use of fentanyl in combination with other drugs marks a “fourth wave” of the overdose crisis in the United States.
And experts like Schober warn that treatment options for drug use in the United States are not keeping up.
“Our treatment systems for drug use disorders often focus on one drug at a time,” Professor Schober said. “But the reality is that many people who use drugs use more than one type of drug.”
To keep her son’s memory alive, Blake has spoken out about his loss and helped other families overcome the loss of loved ones to overdose.
“Everyone has a story. For parents who have lost a child, it’s forever,” she said.
Her son had been to treatment several times while battling substance use disorder.
The experience taught Blake that care options vary from state to state and that what is available is often not enough.
“Ideally, I think we would have a situation where people would have access to treatment whenever they want it, quickly and over a long period of time,” she said.
Ms Blake also floated the idea of an overdose prevention site where people could safely use drugs under supervision.
These sites are widely available in Canada, which has a fentanyl crisis, but there are only two licensed sites in the United States.
Above all, Blake called for compassion and understanding for those struggling with drug use.
“Most people I talk to don’t want their children to die,” she says.