A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some frightening data.
More Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021 than any year on record.
Nearly 108,000 died of overdoses last year. That's up about 14,000 from 2020 and 50% more than died in 2019.
Most of those fatalities -- about two-thirds -- were the result of fentanyl or some other synthetic opioid.
And it's very possible many of those who died had no idea what they were taking.
That's because fentanyl and it's like are easy and cheap to make. They are also exceptionally powerful and drug dealers add them to other drugs like marijuana, heroin and cocaine to increase the effect at significantly less cost, which means higher profit.
But they are also unpredictable. There is no way of knowing for sure if a laced drug has a deadly dose of fentanyl. That means every time someone buys and uses and illegal drug they are playing Russian roulette with their life.
Every single time. And it doesn't matter if you buy the stuff on the mean streets of New York, Chicago or Detroit or right here in the Twin Cities.
It's not worth it. Don't use illegal drugs. And if you need help to stop, get that help.
You don't want to be part of 2022's statistics.