PHOENIX – The fentanyl and opioid crisis cost Arizona an estimated $58 billion for 2023, according to a Common Sense Institute Arizona report published Monday.
The nonpartisan …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths have increased drastically in the U.S. since 2014. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported almost 74,000 deaths in 2022. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)
Posted
By Madeline Bates | Cronkite News
PHOENIX – The fentanyl and opioid crisis cost Arizona an estimated $58 billion for 2023, according to a Common Sense Institute Arizona report published Monday.
The nonpartisan think tank’s report included the costs of fatalities, opioid use disorder, hospitalizations and border security.
The report analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arizona Department of Health Services and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, among others.
It showed a decline across the U.S. in opioid prescriptions during the past decade. In Arizona, drug-related seizures have decreased since 2020.
“Naively, you should be able to assume that there are fewer drugs, but that isn’t the case,” said Glenn Farley, lead author of the report, at a Monday news briefing.
The report cited the southern border migrant crisis as an underlying cause for more drugs making their way across the border, noting that Customs and Border Protection has been strained due to the increased number of individuals and fewer checkpoints.
“As a result of these resource shifts, the ability of CBP to prevent the smuggling of drugs like fentanyl into the United States is likely compromised,” the report said.
Farley said the amount of fentanyl in the United States is unknown, but deaths from the highly addictive synthetic opioid continue to rise.
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths have increased drastically in the U.S. since 2014. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported almost 74,000 deaths in 2022. Opioid deaths have hovered around 2,000 per year since 2020 in Arizona, according to ADHS.
