Illegal drug trade
Fentanyl

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 20 to 40 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine; its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Illicit use of fentanyl continues to fuel an epidemic of synthetic opioid drug overdose deaths in the US. From 2011 to 2021, synthetic opioid deaths per year increased from 2,600 overdoses to 70,601. Since 2018, fentanyl and its analogues have been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the US, causing over 71,238 deaths in 2021. Fentanyl is often mixed, cut, or ingested alongside other drugs, including cocaine and heroin. The fentanyl epidemic has erupted in a highly acrimonious dispute between the US and Mexican governments. While US officials blame the flood of fentanyl crossing the border primarily on Mexican crime groups, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador insists that the main source of this synthetic drug is Asia. He believes that the crisis of a lack of family values in the US drives people to use the drug.
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