It was recently announced that the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 45 is now fentanyl overdoses.

What's Happening?

While most of the nation is focused on COVID-19 (still an obvious threat) they have forgotten to pay attention to other leading causes of death that have had a significant impact and terrifying increase since 2020.

According to this article from KATV, fentanyl overdoses surpassed COVID-19, suicide, and car accidents in 2021.

Comparing COVID-19 to Fentanyl Overdose

To put it in perspective, COVID-19 has killed approximately 53,000 people in that demographic, while over 79,000 people have died of a fentanyl overdose in the same demographic.

Yet, there hasn't been much talk about the dangers of fentanyl or how it's more deadly than COVID-19, suicide, and car accidents for those in the 18-45-year-old age group.

The Reaction

"This is a national emergency. America’s young adults — thousands of unsuspecting Americans — are being poisoned," the founder of Families Against Fentanyl, James Rauh, said according to Fox News.

Families Against Fentanyl went to Twitter to say this:

Families Against Fentanyl via Twitter
Families Against Fentanyl via Twitter
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And posted this graph from the CDC website.

Credit: Families Against Fentanyl via Twitter
Credit: Families Against Fentanyl via Twitter
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Experts reportedly believe the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has correlated to the increase of fentanyl overdoses.

On Twitter, Families Against Fentanyl said the following:

We definitely believe that there’s a correlation between the recent stimulus checks that were sent out and the overdoses we’re seeing right now," said the executive director of the Northern Shenandoah Valley Substance Abuse Coalition, Lauren Cummings to Fox News in an interview. "We saw an increase in overdoses after the first round of stimulus payouts. We annually see an increase in overdoses following tax returns.

The stark increase in Fentanyl deaths is heart-wrenching. Idahoans need to be aware of the risk and educate themselves and others on how to be safe from the other and more deadly side effects of the COVID-19 disease within the 18-45 age group.

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