On Fentanyl Awareness Day: Families Demand Real-Time Fentanyl Poisoning Data Like COVID-19
It’s not an Overdose. It’s Poisoning.
Akron, OH – As the nation marks Fentanyl Awareness Day, families affected by fentanyl poisoning are calling for greater government response to the crisis. In a letter to United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the nation’s leading fentanyl awareness organization, Families Against Fentanyl, is demanding robust, real-time data regarding the fentanyl poisoning crisis like we have seen for the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, Families Against Fentanyl is demanding that the government publish real-time data tracking fentanyl poisoning deaths, suspected fentanyl poisonings and naloxone administrations, all with age, demographic and geographic data.“Fentanyl poisoning is killing far more young Americans than Covid-19, but we are not seeing the kind of massive government response to fentanyl that we saw with the Coronavirus. That’s got to change, and it’s got to change now,” said Families Against Fentanyl founder Jim Rauh. “We have a six-month lag on fentanyl poisoning data right now and that is unacceptable. U.S. Fentanyl deaths doubled in just two years and tripled among teens. Deaths among Black teens increased five-fold. Real-time reporting of these trends could have increased public awareness, increased public investment in countering the crisis, especially in the hardest hit communities, and saved lives.”
On Fentanyl Awareness Day, Families Against Fentanyl has another message for the public, the media, and the public health community: It’s not an Overdose. It’s POISONING. Most Americans who are killed by illicit fentanyl do not even know they are ingesting it. Twenty years ago, one in five overdoses was determined to be suicide. However today, less than one percent of fentanyl deaths are suicides. Almost all are unintentional. Illicit fentanyl manufacturers and dealers lace illicit fentanyl and its analogues into counterfeit prescription pills advertised as pure Xanax, Oxycodone, cocaine, meth, heroin and MDMA or ecstasy.
“We’ve never seen a mass poisoning like this in the United States. 175 Americans are being killed by fentanyl poisoning each day. Unsuspecting people think they are taking a Percocet or Xanax or cocaine or ecstasy. Instead, they are being poisoned by illicit fentanyl and killed,” added Rauh, who lost his son to Fentanyl poisoning in 2015. “Deaths are increasing quickly and hitting many new populations all the time. Whereas just a couple years ago fentanyl poisoning among children was unheard of, now we hear a new report of young children and infants being poisoned by illicit fentanyl every week. These are the trends that the public, policymakers, and clinicians need to know in order to save lives.”
Emergency Room physician Dr. Roneet Lev is an advisor to Families Against Fentanyl and previously served as Chief Medical Officer of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
“We have seen an unbelievable government response to the COVID-19 pandemic with timely data and vaccines. As an emergency and addiction physician who treats people who die or almost die of fentanyl with more frequency than COVI, I wonder why we do not apply the same intensity of prevention and treatment to drugs and overdoses,” said Dr. Lev, who is based in California. “Data is crucial to optimal application of resources. We did it for COVID, we can and should do the same for fentanyl.”
Families Against Fentanyl is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the illicit fentanyl crisis and advocating for federal action. The organization was founded by James Rauh of Akron, Ohio after his son was killed by fentanyl poisoning in 2015. Families Against Fentanyl has become a leading voice for fentanyl awareness, bringing together thousands of families and producing research cited by leaders across the United States and around the world. FAF found that fentanyl poisoning is the #1 cause of death among Americans 18- 45 and was responsible for more deaths than suicide, car accidents or gun violence last year.
Bipartisan leaders including former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former CIA Director John Brennan joined with Families Against Fentanyl to warn of the national security threat posed by illicit fentanyl and urged President Biden to designate illicit fentanyl and its analogues as weapons of mass destruction (WMD). More than 30,000 Americans have joined the call by signing FAF's petition. Almost all illicit fentanyl is manufactured outside the United States. Instead of incarcerating low level American drug users or dealers, a WMD designation would empower the federal government to stop illicit fentanyl before it ever reaches our country. By designating illicit fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, the United States can use federal intelligence resources to root out the manufacturers of illicit fentanyl poisoning and the multinational criminal organizations that traffic the poison. Once identified, the U.S. can work with international partners to disrupt these operations, use sanctions to freeze their financial resources and stop shipments at sea before they ever reach our shores.
For Media and Press Inquiries: press@familiesagainstfentanyl.org
