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In the last 6 months TX DPS has seized enough fentanyl to kill 70 million people - What's Your Point?

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What's Your Point?
FOX 26 Houston

Abbott toughens laws and penalties on Fentanyl leaders

Houston's Sunday morning political debate show! The WYP panel discusses Gov. Abbott's recent new laws regarding fentanyl dealers and abuser

HOUSTON - Watch more What's Your Point discussions


In a year when the United States recorded more deaths by overdose than any time in its history - Governor Greg abbot signed legislation that makes the crime of trafficking in the synthetic opiate "fentanyl" punishable by life in a Texas prison.


As panelist Bob Price has been reporting for months, most of that fentanyl is being smuggled over our southern border - where the governor is making good on another pledge, arresting and jailing undocumented immigrants on state charges.


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DEA FACTS ABOUT FENTANYL

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery.  Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance that is similar to morphine but about 100 times more potent.  Under the supervision of a licensed medical professional, fentanyl has legitimate medical use.  Patients prescribed fentanyl should be monitored for potential misuse or abuse.

Illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market.  Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids.  Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drugs.

There is a significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl.  Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction.

Producing illicit fentanyl is not an exact science.  Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage.  DEA analysis has found counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet.

  • 26% of tablets tested for fentanyl contained a lethal dose.
  • Drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by kilogram.  One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.

It is possible for someone to take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl. It is also possible to take a pill knowing it contains fentanyl, but with no way of knowing if it contains a lethal dose.

According to the CDC, synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are the primary driver of the increases in overdose deaths in the United States, increasing 38.4 percent during the 12-month period ending May 2020