Fentanyl facts
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid. Opioids (also called narcotic analgesics, opiates, or narcotics) are a class of drugs that can prescribed by doctors to provide relief from moderate-to-severe acute or chronic pain. Fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substance Act due to its high risk of abuse, addiction and psychological or physical dependence.
Illegal fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, making it especially dangerous because people are unaware that fentanyl has been added. Due to its high potency, even a small amount of fentanyl can be deadly. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and using a drug that has been contaminated fentanyl can greatly increase one’s risk of lethal overdose.
Fentanyl in Tennessee:
Drug overdoses involving fentanyl increased by 275% between 2018 and 2022 alone.
Fentanyl was responsible for 58 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022, a 383% increase from 12 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2018.
In 2022, 3,826 individuals in Tennessee died of a drug overdose. 2,797 of those deaths (73.12%) were caused by fentanyl.
Fentanyl in America:
From 2019 to 2022, synthetic opioid deaths nationwide increased by 115.85%.
In 2022 alone, 107,941 people died from drug overdoses. Over two-thirds of these deaths involved synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.
The annual rate of synthetic opioid related overdose deaths nationwide increased 22.7% from 2013 to 2022.