Who Answers?
Introduction
The United States has waged a war on drugs for many decades. But the crisis took a new turn in 2017 when the drug epidemic was declared a nationwide public health emergency. In 2024 the Centers for Disease Control indicated that overdose deaths increased by 10 times since 1999 with over 700,000 Americans losing their lives since 2022. The rise of synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine, has created unprecedented challenges in combating this crisis.
Understanding Synthetic Drugs
Synthetic drugs are also known as designer or club drugs. They refer to lab created compounds designed to mimic the effect of natural substances like cocaine or morphine. These substances vary widely in their effects.
Effects can range from sedation and euphoria to stimulation and hallucination. Currently, over 200 synthetic drug compounds have been identified and there are more than 90 varieties of synthetic cannabis compounds.
Some of the most commonly abused synthetic drugs include synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and prescription pain medications like morphine, tramadol, and oxycodone.
Synthetic cannabis, also known as K2 or Spice, is also widely available as is synthetic LSD which is often referred to as N Bomb or Smiles. Synthetic stimulants, sometimes called Meth, Molly, or bath salts and synthetic PCP, also known as MXE or Methoxamine, are also readily found.
Pharmaceutical grade synthetic drugs do provide health benefits for many individuals. Benefits include the development of legal synthetic pain relieving medications which have allowed for a better quality of life for individuals with acute or chronic pain.
For instance, fentanyl that’s produced by pharmaceutical companies and in controlled environments has beneficial uses during and after surgery and for palliative care.
However, synthetic drugs have a major drawback. They can be highly addictive and have become significant contributors to the increase in drug overdose deaths. Even when carefully controlled, fentanyl is extremely dangerous because it’s 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. A fatal dose is estimated to be two milligrams depending on the person’s body size.
In contrast to pharmaceutical fentanyl, illicit fentanyl, especially when combined with other substances, is extremely dangerous. Producers frequently mix it with other components, sometimes without end users being aware they’re taking this potent synthetic opioid which leads to fatal interactions.
Illegally produced fentanyl and fentanyl analogs have caused a substantial increase in overdose deaths since 2013.
Methamphetamines are synthetic stimulants that have a high potential for addiction. Some is produced legally as prescription drug treatment for attention deficit disorder or for short-term obesity treatment. However, the use of illicitly manufactured methamphetamines has spiked the number of overdose deaths in America.
Meth can be ingested in many ways including being swallowed, injected, snorted or smoked and is frequently combined with other drugs such as fentanyl. Meth is currently the second most commonly found drug in people who have succumbed to a drug overdose.
The Impact of Synthetic Drugs
Recent data on drug use and overdose deaths indicate that over the past 25 years, America’s drug epidemic has been fueled by synthetic drug production. The Centers for Disease Control describes three waves of opioid overdose deaths in the United States beginning with the first wave in 1999.
This wave was largely due to the increase in healthcare providers legally prescribing pain medications such as synthetic drugs like oxycodone, and hydrocodone to treat acute and chronic pain. The second wave refers to the rapid increase in heroin overdose deaths beginning in 2010.
The third wave began in 2013 as synthetic opioids containing fentanyl started to contribute to a marked increase in drug overdose deaths in the country.
Drug overdoses claimed an average of 224 lives each day in 2022 alone. According to statistics, death was more likely to occur among males, individuals of American Indian and Alaska Native descent and those aged 34 to 44.
Other studies found that fentanyl-related deaths among adolescents increased by 177% from 128 deaths in 2019 to 354 deaths in 2020. These findings indicate that deaths increased significantly during this period for adolescents when compared with fentanyl related deaths among adults.
The cost of this crisis is not only measured in American lives but in terms of a significant economic impact as well. The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. found that substance use disorders including addictions to synthetic drugs have hurt the economy through reduced labor force participation, decreased employment and increased applications for Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income.
A bipartisan congressional report from 2022 also found that the cost to the U.S. economy is roughly $1 trillion annually which is an increase from $700 billion just three years earlier.
The U.S. healthcare system has felt the increased stress of caring for those impacted by synthetic drug use. By 2016, opioid-related hospitalizations were 297 per 100,000 visits. This translates to approximately $1.94 billion in healthcare costs each year.
Both state and federal prisons have been negatively impacted by synthetic drugs. Although the numbers of individuals incarcerated for sale/manufacturing or possession of synthetic drugs have decreased since 2018, nearly 18,000 are arrested annually for manufacturing and almost 41,000 for possession.
The Dark Web and Synthetic Drugs
Most illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs are not produced in the United States. A majority of synthetic drugs are manufactured in foreign labs and smuggled into the United States via Mexico. The use of social media platforms and encrypted apps has made it easier than ever for these drug cartels to reach everyday Americans including children and adolescents.
Technology has enabled dealers to more freely advertise and sell their product, get payments, find new sales recruits and deliver their products without physically meeting their customers. Additionally, tech makes it harder for law enforcement to identify and locate drug traffickers.
Furthermore, distributors use locations that have less intensive law enforcement or lack extradition agreements related to drug trafficking to evade being caught and facing imprisonment.
Prevention and Intervention
Federal and state governments along with public health departments and organizations are working to combat this public health crisis.
They’re collaborating to create solutions and save countless lives through overdose prevention programs, including:
- Fatal overdose data collection
- Opioid dispensing maps
- Evidence-based treatment studies
- Promotion of pain management programs
- Increasing the availability of drug treatment programs
- Harm reduction programs distributing emergency opioid reversing drugs such as Narcan
- Enhanced public education and awareness
It’ll take collaboration between federal, state and local governments to ensure funding is available to collect data, increase funding so that programs for education and prevention are widely available, provide increased access to treatment and support harm reduction programs.
Communities need to support nonprofit organizations that provide resources and support for individuals who are impacted by synthetic drug use. Healthcare providers need to offer their patients multimodal pain management services, advise their patients on the dangers of opioid drug use and provide ongoing education on the best evidence-based practices to treat pain.
Conclusion
Drugs are a pressing public health emergency. For years, Americans have battled the crisis without seeing the end in sight. It’s not easy, and it’ll take a joint approach to find solutions that don’t leave anyone behind. Synthetic drugs and the serious consequences from using them are tragic but not all is lost.
By working together, we’ll come up with strategies to beat the devastating effects of synthetic drugs.
