The fentanyl crisis in America has reportedly taken a deadlier turn since President Joe Biden took office.
According to KSAZ-TV in Arizona, between 2020 and 2021, synthetic opioid overdose deaths in the United States increased by 23%, going from 57,834 to 71,238.
And during that same time period, synthetic opioid overdose deaths in Arizona rose more than 15% — from 1,519 to 1,791.
"We're already at over 1,200 pounds of fentanyl seized" in 2022 alone, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jesus Gastelum, who told KSAZ-TV.
Gastelum then added, by comparison, just 830 pounds of fentanyl were seized by Arizona officials for all of 2021.
Also, according to KSAZ, the Arizona DPS has seized "more fentanyl than ever, despite the department's sworn personnel being short by at least 315" officers.
Dr. Raminta Daniulaityte, a researcher and associate professor at the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, told ABC 15 the fentanyl crisis has had far-reaching effects in the state, even among people with no concept of how potent certain opioids can be.
"A lot of people are vulnerable to being exposed to it. In Arizona, [fentanyl] resemble[s] prescription drugs, right? These fentanyl pills that are counterfeit drugs that are ... kind of made to look like OxyContin tablets that people were very familiar with before," Daniulaityte explained.
ABC 15 reported that heroin overdoses have decreased since 2016, while fentanyl-related deaths have spiked.
Breitbart News recently reported that 15,000 fentanyl pills hidden in candy packaging had been seized in Connecticut.
Last week on Newsmax, Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Ala., cautioned that the emergence of rainbow-colored, candy-shaped fentanyl pills suggest the overdose crisis is "going to get much, much worse before it gets better."
As such, Carl says he favors shutting down the southern border, as a means of combating the opioid crisis, without border officials being consumed with illegal immigrants entering the country through unsanctioned entry ports.
"[The Biden] administration has got to get serious," said Carl then, while appearing on "Wake Up America."
"We've got people flooding across the border. They all have backpacks. They all have drugs," added Carl.
Two weeks ago, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., told Newsmax that he's calling for "stricter penalties" and "longer jail sentences" for those who sell or distribute illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl.
"It's a multipronged approach that we have to take in response to the opioid epidemic," Reschenthaler told "National Report."
"And I know this from having been a district judge, but I can tell you fentanyl is the leading cause of death for individuals between 18 and 46 in the United States.
"Pennsylvania leads in fentanyl deaths; we're third in fentanyl deaths even though we're just the fifth-largest state in population, so it is an issue in Pennsylvania and something that Pennsylvanians have on their minds," added Reschenthaler.
Since President Biden took office in January 2021, more than 5 million migrants have entered the U.S. illegally.
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