NPR

Fentanyl Surpasses Heroin As Drug Most Often Involved In Deadly Overdoses

When fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, infiltrated the drug supply in the U.S. it had an immediate, dramatic effect on the overdose rate.
A highly potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl is often mixed in to other drugs sold on the street, including pills, heroin and even cocaine.

Fentanyl is now the drug most frequently involved in overdose deaths in the U.S., according to a National Vital Statistics System report published Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report sheds a bright light on the changing nature of America's drug landscape – and the devastating number of overdose deaths

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