Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, has recently become the number one leading cause of overdose deaths in Americans ages 18 to 45. Far stronger than other drugs such as heroin and morphine, even just two milligrams of fentanyl can be enough to kill.
Often, a pill may appear as a pharmaceutical painkiller or another prescription drug such as Xanax or Adderall, but instead, it is cut with highly potent and deadly fentanyl and other illicit drugs. Drug cartels and other criminal enterprises have begun mass-producing these counterfeit pills and marketing them to unsuspecting victims.
As Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton has worked tirelessly to respond to the growing threat and raise awareness of the dangers posed by fentanyl. In 2022, Attorney General Paxton joined a multistate letter to the Biden Administration demanding that the drug be declared a weapon of mass destruction to enable a more robust law enforcement response.
Similarly, in 2023, Attorney General Paxton urged President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to officially designate transnational criminal organizations such as Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, thereby authorizing state and federal law enforcement agencies to use more aggressive tools to stop the flow of fentanyl into America.
To continue raising awareness about the increasingly deadly consequences of the ongoing fentanyl epidemic afflicting Texas and the rest of the country, Attorney General Paxton gathered testimony from the families and friends of people who died from fentanyl poisoning. Joining Attorney General Paxton were former Cowboys player Randy White and numerous Texas parents whose children tragically overdosed and died due to fentanyl-laced drugs.
“Texas drug overdose deaths have increased over 75% during the last five years alone. Fentanyl is so potent and so deadly that one pill can kill,” said Attorney General Paxton. “To all of my fellow Texans, we treasure your life. The first step toward ending the devastation starts with understanding what we’re facing.”
Fentanyl Epidemic Awareness Message From Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Fentanyl Epidemic Awareness Message From Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Full Testimonies)
Additional testimony from parents and community leaders highlighting the danger facing Texans today, especially young people, can be viewed in the video below.
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