The Global Opioid Epidemic: Basics

Zoe Hatsios

Opioids generally are compounds that are extracted from the poppy seed as well as semisynthetic and synthetic compounds with similar properties that can interact with opioid receptors in the brain. 

On October 20th, the Council on Foreign Relations published an article by Claire Felter titled “The U.S. Fentanyl Crisis: What to Know.” 

Felter identifies a critical issue that ordinarily passes the minds of many Americans: the drastic increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths in the previous few years. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine that was initially produced in cancer treatment, and has increasingly been laced into other illicit drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a spotlight led to the drug due to the celebrity deaths of Fuquan Johnson, Logan Williams, and Michael K. Williams, as well as the rapid increase of overdose-related deaths between 2019 and 2020. 

The increase in fentanyl pills is speculated to be tied to drug networks based in Mexico using chemicals manufactured in China. However, the epicenter of the opioid epidemic is in North America. This linkage is incredibly dangerous, with sources of many chemicals unknown, even for other drugs into which fentanyl has been laced into. Without improvements in supply-chain policy and drug rehabilitation strategies, this epidemic may continue to spiral, with deadly drugs being dispersed into unexpected areas; the spread of opioids in marijuana in particular, which is legal in some U.S. states and widely recreationally used, may contribute to an even higher surge in deaths in the coming years.

Coincidingly, there has been discussion of decriminalizing illicit drugs in many communities due to the nature of drug policy and the War on Drugs. 

Despite these two movements, one critical lesson remains: there is a widespread illicit drug issue in North America, which is increasingly leading to early and unexpected deaths. 

In 2018, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime launched the Opioid Strategy. Although the initiative has solid tactics, such as targeting cybercrime for drug trafficking, helping forensic laboratories use the latest analytical methods to identify new substances and improve quality standards for drug testing, and providing resources through the UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs website. Further action needs to be done to target this issue and raise awareness in academic and professional think-spaces.