Fentanyl Deaths Rose Highest in Children Under 14 Years Old
Between 2019 and 2021, The rate of death from ingesting illicit fentanyl went up disproportionately in children who are younger than 14, rising triple the rate in those years. Reports of deaths from fentanyl in this age group rose faster than in any other age group in the United States, according to a new report from Families Against Fentanyl (FAF), a nonprofit founded by the father of a young man who died from illicit fentanyl.
FAF, according to its website, aims not only raise to awareness, but to push for legislation and federal policy to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) as a stronger method to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl from countries outside the United States, resulting in fentanyl-laced pills that appear to be name-brand drugs such as Xanax and Vicodin.
The organization has won some bipartisan supporters, its website claims, for its argument that declaring illicit fentanyl a WMD. According to its website, under "Why a WMD?", they explain:
"This would enable the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Department of Defense and other relevant federal agencies to better coordinate their efforts to interdict the international supply of illicit fentanyl, and immediately publish the necessary administrative directives to eliminate the threat posed by these deadly substances."
To make their case, they compare the lethal doses of fentanyl (2 mg) and carfentenil (.02 mg) to sarin (50 mg). Sarin, a lethal nerve agent, is already designated as a WMD
As for this recent report about the rise in infant and child deaths, quoting from a press release issued by FAF, the bullet points are disturbing:
* Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) fatalities among children aged 14 and under are rising faster than any other age group, and more than tripled in just two years.
* Fentanyl deaths among infants increased twice as fast as overall US fentanyl deaths in the 2 years from 2019 to 2021 (the latest year for which CDC data is available).
* Nationally, fentanyl deaths doubled in the 2 years from 2019 to 2021. However, in the same period, deaths among infants to 1-year-olds quadrupled, deaths among 1- to 4-year-olds more than tripled, and deaths among 5 to 14-year-olds nearly quadrupled.
* Since 2015, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among infants increased nearly 10-fold, and 15-fold among children ages 1 to 14: an increase of more than 1,400%.
The FAF produced an issue brief, "The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths," based on the nonprofit organization's analysis of data from the Center for Disease Control on synthetic opioid poisoning fatalities.
"These disturbing new findings should serve as a wake-up call to our nation's leaders. Families Against Fentanyl is calling for the Biden Administration to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction and immediately establish a White House task force dedicated to the fentanyl crisis," said FAF founder Jim Rauh.
The press release and report note the toll of illicit fentanyl in all age groups, not just infants and children, noting that more than half of all fentanyl deaths in the United States were among Americans aged 25 to 44 in 2021.
According to that data, synthetic opioid poisoning was still the leading cause of death among people age 18 to 45 in the United States, according to FAF's CDC-based reporting for 2019 to 2021, the latest year for which they could get complete CDC figures. (See: Fentanyl Deaths Among Children Rising Faster Than Any Other Age Group, More Than Tripled in Just Two Years. Press Release from Families Against Fentanyl. January 12, 2023. http://www.familiesagainstfentanyl.org.