107,500 people died last year of drug-related deaths — over 21,000 in California alone. Illegal drugs are now the number one cause of death for those between ages 24-45. To put that into perspective, more people died of drug-related deaths last year than the number of service members lost in the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. This is a level of death and destruction that should frighten every parent, teacher, health professional, cop and lawmaker.

Most disturbingly, over two-third of these losses are linked to synthetic substances like fentanyl. While some of those deaths may be attributed to people with substance use disorder who specifically sought out fentanyl, the reality is that the vast majority are those who believed they are getting something else (Percocet, Adderall, Xanax, heroin) and don’t know they are taking fentanyl or drugs laced with fentanyl. Among teenagers, overdose deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl tripled in the past two years, yet 73% have never heard of fake prescription pills being made with fentanyl.

Click here to read more.