Sen. Marshall Warns of Dangers of Fentanyl and Social Media
(Topeka, KS, August 31, 2022) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. today released a video on International Overdose Awareness Day warning about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning and social media where counterfeit or fake drugs are often purchased and laced with fentanyl. While you may click HERE , Senator Marshall said,“Everywhere we go we try to share the message that just one pill can kill. That most every day in Kansas somebody dies from fentanyl poisoning. As kids go back to school, I want parents to understand the challenges out there: your children through social media, including through Snapchat are able to purchase one tablet of fentanyl, which can kill them. Please, parents, teachers, talk to your children about the dangers out there of fentanyl and stay in communication with your children whenever you can.”
Senator Marshall is a cosponsor of a Senate resolution to designate May 10, 2022 as National Fentanyl Awareness Day. The resolution supports the mission and goals of National Fentanyl Awareness Day in 2022, including increasing individual and public awareness of the impact of fake or counterfeit fentanyl-related substances on families and young people.
- Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine.
- Kansas suffered a 54% increase in drug overdoses during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
- Of the 338 people in Kansas who died of drug overdose between Jan. 1 and June 30 of last year – 149 involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogs.
- Overdose deaths from fentanyl-related substances topped all other drug-related overdose deaths in Kansas in 2021
- In the first three months of 2022, Kansas saw more than 2,500 drug overdoses.
- While not on the Kansas side, the Kansas City Police Department announced that accidental overdoses from fentanyl-related substances had climbed nearly 150% from 2019 to 2020 in the metro area, particularly noticeable among ages 15 to 24. Last year, out of 129 overdoses, 50 were fentanyl-related.
- In May, Kansas City, Kansas officers seized nearly 15,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl during a two-day bust,
- In March, Wichita officers seized 7,000 fentanyl-related substance pills during a traffic stop.
- The Wichita Police Department also said that they recently worked five suspected overdose cases in a 24-hour period – two of those were juveniles.
- Nationwide, four in 10 pills examined by DEA labs contain a deadly amount of fentanyl-related substance, an amount that can fit on the tip of a pencil.
- Since Joe Biden took office, nearly 14,000 pounds of fentanyl have been seized from criminals at the southern border – and a record 1,300 pounds were discovered just this past April – much more made it over the border undetected.
- 15,000lbs of fentanyl-related substances were seized in 2021 – enough to supply a potentially lethal dose to every member of the U.S. population.
- 64% of overdose deaths in the U.S. involved synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl-related substances.
- 4 out of 10 DEA-tested fake pills with fentanyl-related substances contain a potentially deadly dose.
- 12 month period ending in October 2021: 105,000 overdose deaths – 66% were due to fentanyl-related substances, synthetic opioids.