Rising Fentanyl Overdoses Mark '4th Wave' Of Opioid Crisis

Rising Fentanyl Overdoses Mark '4th Wave' Of Opioid Crisis

Introduction

Researchers from the University of California-Los Angeles have reported a dramatic increase of over 50 times in U.S. overdose deaths involving a combination of fentanyl and stimulants over the past 13 years.

Fentanyl, an incredibly potent synthetic opioid, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. While it is technically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medical use in specific situations to manage pain and serve as an anesthetic, its illicit use on the streets has exacerbated and worsened the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States.

In 2010, authorities linked 235 deaths (0.6%) to a mix of fentanyl and stimulants. By 2021, this number had surged to 34,429 deaths (32.2%).

By 2021, stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine had become the most prevalent drugs found in fentanyl-related overdose cases in every single U.S. state. This troubling increase in deaths connected to the combination of fentanyl and stimulants marks the fourth wave of the long-standing opioid overdose crisis in America, according to researchers.

The opioid crisis in the United States has persisted for nearly two decades, claiming the lives of over half a million Americans. The remarkable endurance and longevity of this crisis are initially astonishing, but it is essential to recognize that opioid-related overdoses have unfolded in distinct waves since the early 2000s.

Beginning in the early 2000s, there was a surge in deaths linked to prescription opioids (wave 1). By 2010, fatal overdoses involving heroin were skyrocketing (wave 2). By 2013, fentanyl overdoses began to dominate the reported drug-related fatalities (wave 3). Just a few years later, in 2015, deaths attributed to fentanyl overdoses in combination with stimulants began to increase significantly, and this trend continues to grow today (wave 4).

It is crucial to note that individuals who consume multiple substances in a short timeframe are at a higher risk of overdose. Moreover, many substances mixed with fentanyl do not respond to naloxone, which is considered the antidote to opioid overdose.

Researchers also observe that fentanyl and stimulant overdose deaths disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States, particularly African Americans and Native Americans. For instance, in 2021, the rate of stimulant involvement in fentanyl overdose deaths was 73 percent among non-Hispanic Black or African American women aged 65 to 74 in the western United States. The same prevalence was 69 percent among Black or African-American men aged 55 to 65 living in the same region. In 2021, the overall prevalence in the entire U.S. population was 49 percent.

Geographical patterns also appear to play a role in this issue. In the northeastern United States, fentanyl is typically mixed with cocaine, while in the southern and western U.S., it is more commonly combined with a form of methamphetamine.