Children under 14 are dying from fentanyl poisoning at a faster rate than any other age group

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

Children younger than 14 are dying from fentanyl poisoning, according to a new analysis of Families Against Fentanyl.

In the past two years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among children have increased.

Fentanyl-related deaths among infants (children under one year of age) quadrupled from 2019 to 2021; Three times more in children between 1 and 4 years and almost four times more in children between 5 and 14 years.

RELATED: Florida AG Warns of ‘Horrifying’ New Trends in Fentanyl Distribution

Since 2015, fentanyl-related deaths among infants have increased nearly 10-fold; Among children aged 1 to 14, deaths increased 15-fold, more than 1,400%, FAF said.

Nationally, fentanyl deaths doubled during the same period.

Most of the deaths were poisoning, meaning they occurred as a result of the person ingesting fentanyl without their knowledge. In 2021, less than 1% of fentanyl-related deaths will be suicides.

FAF reported Findings A newly published brief, “The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths,” evaluated disease control data on fentanyl poisoning deaths.

“These disturbing new findings should serve as a wake-up call to our nation’s leaders,” said Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl. He once again called on President Joe Biden to reclassify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction “and immediately establish a White House task force dedicated to the fentanyl crisis.”

“Americans deserve to know what’s being done to save lives and what’s being done to track down and stop international manufacturers and traffickers of illegal fentanyl,” Rauh added. “It’s our nation’s number one killer of young adults. It’s killing more and more children every year. It’s time for the urgent treatment this menace deserves.

RELATED: Florida law enforcement officials seize enough fentanyl to kill the state’s entire population

It released its findings after the DEA issued several public safety warnings last year about fentanyl and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. warned Mexican cartels are targeting young Americans with rainbow fentanyl pills, counterfeit prescription pills that look like candy but are laced with fentanyl.

The DEA announced last month that in 2022, Texas law enforcement officers in the US have seized enough fentanyl to kill more than anyone else, as of January 13, and since March 2021, 356 million lethal doses of fentanyl have been seized. than anyone else in the United States. Last year, in just a few months, Florida law enforcement officials seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Florida.

Two milligrams of fentanyl, the size of a mosquito, is lethal enough to kill a grown adult and is 100 times more potent than morphine.

In early January, Moody Called Biden urged Mexico to take action to stop the dumping of fentanyl at the border. He said he was “deeply concerned” that his meetings with the Mexican president “did not appear to discuss the flood of illegal fentanyl across our border from Mexico or the record of Americans dying because of your failure to take action.” Stop the unlimited flow of this deadly poison.

Moody said Biden had “failed to demand accountability and cooperation” in previous meetings with Obrador and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Both countries have been identified by US federal and state law enforcement agencies as creating an illegal fentanyl crisis. The DEA and other agencies say the Chinese mafia and gangs ship fentanyl precursors to Mexican ports, where cartels and their operatives make counterfeit prescription pills and lace other drugs with fentanyl, fueling the fentanyl crisis.

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Smugglers then bring the deadly narcotics across the border using the migrant war as a way to distract and evade law enforcement, experts. says.

The DEA has issued several public safety warnings about the dangers of fentanyl. Florida publishes resources through its Dose of Reality, One Pill Can Kill website. These are the quick facts on fentanyl Toolkit Includes DEA Emoji drug code To inform parents about how dealers are targeting minors and selling illegal drugs through social media apps.

FAF indicates that synthetic opioid (fentanyl) poisoning is still the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

Americans are encouraged to have Naloxone At hand, medication proven to reverse opioid overdose and fentanyl poisoning if administered quickly. It is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It is free and available at low cost online, through a range of community organizations and pharmacies, with and without a prescription and with or without insurance.

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.