Online Tracker States 5 Texans Die Everyday From Fentanyl

Introduction

The deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has been responsible for thousands of deaths in Texas over the past several years, has been tracked by the state of Texas using an internet program.

The governor made the announcement as part of his office's "One Pill Kills" fentanyl awareness campaign. The dashboard is run by the Department of State Health Services. The dashboard shows state-wide averages for Fentanyl poisoning fatalities, along with how they stack up against all other drug-related poisoning fatalities.

The statement emphasized that Texas continues to step up its efforts to address the spreading fentanyl problem afflicting our state and the country and that more than five Texans die every day from lethal fentanyl. The information posted on this website will assist Texans in taking the lead in the battle against this dangerous substance. Texans must band together to increase awareness of this deadly opiate among families, friends, and communities.

According to the website, the state defines a fentanyl-poisoning death as one in which "fentanyl is indicated in the cause of death description", and it is found that the fatality was inadvertent or accidental.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration claims that opioid has effects comparable to morphine despite being 100 times stronger. The DEA stated in a fact sheet that "two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person's body size, tolerance, and past usage."

According to Texas data, more than 2,160 people died in 2022 as a result of fentanyl intoxication. Of the 4,844 drug-related deaths in the state that year, that represents nearly 44%. This is an increase from the 891 and 1,645 fatalities attributed to fentanyl in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Fentanyl-related fatalities have been linked to 540 deaths as of June 2023 (the website notes that data from the previous three years is provisional and subject to change). Additionally, the data is separated by age, gender, and race or ethnicity.

The program also offers statistics for the entire county, including the overall number of fatalities and the fatality rate per 100,000 inhabitants. Since 2014, the data has been available for yearly tracking. Unsurprisingly, the opioid crisis has been most severe in the state's major metropolitan counties. In Harris County, there were more than 500 fatal poisonings from fentanyl in 2022. Following that are 74 in El Paso, 194 in Travis County, 181 in Bexar, and 199 in Dallas County.

Travis County had the highest mortality rate per 100,000 people in 2022, at 14.45, compared to Harris County's rate of 9.72, although having fewer fatalities overall than Harris County. Montgomery County had a rate of 9.66 and 63 fentanyl-related fatalities in 2022. El Paso County's rate was 8.32, followed by Bexar County's 8.32.

The launch of the online tool comes after a legislative session in Austin during which lawmakers enacted multiple bills to prevent the use of the synthetic drug in Texas, including a House bill that establishes a state charge of murder in the event that selling the drug leads to death. The legislature also approved a bill to increase access to Narcan, often known as Naloxone, in colleges and institutions. If used in time, the medication can save a life as it immediately reverses the effects of opioids.

The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is furious with the Biden administration because of the state's opioid epidemic and claims that the illegal drug trade is encouraged by the White House's so-called "open border" policy. Abbott started Operation Lone Star, a government-run and taxpayer-funded border security initiative, more than two years ago. In the recently approved state budget, which covers the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, border security operations got more than $5 billion, including billions allocated for continuing the work.

Critics of the operation point out that rather than between the ports of entry, the majority of the fentanyl enters through the ports that link the United States and Mexico. More than 90% of the fentanyl collected since the start of the federal government's 2023 fiscal year in October, according to a study from the Washington Office on Latin America, has entered the country through ports of entry.

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