WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The number of fentanyl seizures by law officers has increased drastically between 2017 and 2023, according to a new analysis.
The researchers sourced data from the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas or HIDTA program to find that around 50,000 pills were seized during 2017, but the number went up to over 115 million pills in 2023.
The research, led by experts at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Florida, studied the data on powder and pills of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, accounting for two-thirds of drug overdoses each year in the U.S.
'About half of seized fentanyl is now in pill form, suggesting that the illicit drug landscape has rapidly changed,' said study lead author Joseph Palamar, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health and deputy director of the National Drug Early Warning System. 'Fentanyl in pill form not only makes it easier for people to initiate use, but also increases the chances that people who buy illicit pills could be unintentionally exposed to fentanyl since it is commonly present in counterfeit pills pressed to resemble oxycodone, Xanax, or even Adderall.'
The findings published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, revealed that Florida, Arizona, and California were states with the greatest number of seizures, whereas highest number of pill seizures was conducted in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
'You make much more money with fentanyl than you do with heroin, at least 50 times more,' National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said. 'The other aspect about it is that it is relatively easy to synthesize and manufacture. And because it's so potent, which is the third thing, you can bring a small volume and in the small volume . basically you can extract multiples thousands of doses.'
The researchers noted that the illicit pills reached the U.S. residents mainly via online websites.
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