The northeastern U.S., the St. Louis area and California all experienced a sudden spike of overdoses on the opioid fentanyl in the past two years, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Fentanyl, an opioid painkiller available through prescription under brand names such as Actiq and Abstral, is often put into heroin, according to a March 18 statement from the administration. Seizures related to the use of fentanyl increased more than threefold from 942 in 2013 to 3,344 last year, according to the press release.
The drug is 30-50 times more potent than heroin and 50-...
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