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KQED's Forum

‘Cartel RX’ Investigates Fentanyl’s Catastrophic Surge

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6656 Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl causes on average one death in the United States every seven minutes — more than die by car accidents, guns or suicide. Fentanyl is cheap and easy to mass produce and smuggle; when added to drugs like cocaine and heroin, it can cause people to overdose quickly, before they even realize they’ve ingested it at all. That’s all according to a new seven-part Washington Post investigation called “Cartel RX.” We’ll talk to the reporters behind the series about what’s driving fentanyl’s “catastrophic surge” in the U.S. and how experts think we can begin to turn the tide. Guests: Nick Miroff, reporter covering the Department of Homeland Security, Washington Post Scott Higham, investigative reporter, The Washington Post Sari Horwitz, investigative reporter, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:44.6

From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Scott Schaefer in Formina Kim.

1:05.1

Over 100,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses last year, more than two-thirds of them caused by fentanyl.

1:12.2

In a new investigative series, The Washington Post digs into the deadly impact of fentanyl,

1:17.4

and why a lack of cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. is making it harder to crack down on

1:22.4

fentanyl cartels. We'll be joined by three reporters who worked on the series titled Cartel RX to hear about their investigation and what's being done to stem the deadly tide of fentanyl coming from Mexico to the streets of big cities across the country.

1:37.0

That's next on Forum after this news. This is Forum. I'm Scott Schaefer in for Mena Kim.

1:52.1

Fentanyl was responsible for two-thirds of U.S. drug overdoses deaths in 2021.

1:58.3

That's a number that's nearly doubled since 2019. That is according to analysis and

2:03.6

reporting from a new Washington Post series called Cartel RX. It explores how the synthetic

2:09.5

opioid fentanyl is killing people and devastating communities and how easy it is to mass

2:15.4

manufacture and smuggle it into the U.S. from Mexico.

2:18.8

It's also a story about years of failure by U.S. authorities and presidential administrations of both parties

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