The drug overdose epidemic has long plagued the United States, killing more than 932,000 people in the country since 1999—and within that total, the number of opioid deaths has since increased eightfold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The country has faced three distinct waves of increasing opioid deaths—caused by prescription opioids, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—regardless of the political party in power. The most recent wave, driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl, began in 2013 and has continued to rise since.
[L]ess than 1 out of 10 people in the United States who need addiction care get it. Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
While the opioid epidemic is fundamentally a public health issue, right-wing voices have relentlessly scapegoated migrants for the fentanyl crisis—even though an overwhelming majority of fentanyl traffickers are U.S. citizens. Still, misleading claims about immigrants have gained traction with the American public, particularly around fentanyl. Despite a lack of evidence, a large number of Americans link the opioid epidemic to immigration. The dangerous and irresponsible tactic of treating drug overdose deaths as an immigration issue provides false hope that there is an immigration solution for a public health crisis.
Alarmingly, amid these rising overdose deaths, “[L]ess than 1 out of 10 people in the United States who need addiction care...
A federal jury has convicted a San Francisco man of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme involving fraudulent insurance claims on already-wrecked vehicles, pros...