U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA 1) is urging Georgians to heed the recent alert from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over an increase in counterfeit prescription pills that may contain fentanyl or methamphetamine.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter
The scourge of the new counterfeit pills is serious enough to warrant the first Public Safety Alert from the DEA in six years and is aimed at raising awareness over the lethality of these illegal pills. Produced by criminal networks, often in Mexico with chemicals produced in China, they are marketed as legitimate prescription pills and are killing Americans “at an unprecedented rate.”
“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Anne Milgram, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before. In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. DEA is focusing resources on taking down the violent drug traffickers causing the greatest harm and posing the greatest threat to the safety and health of Americans. Today, we are alerting the public to this danger so that people have the information they need to protect themselves and their children.”
The DEA has so far seized pills in every state in the country, to the tune of 9.5 million pills so far this year, more than the last two years combined. Then think about the number that are making it through to the consumer and not being seized. The amount of fentanyl that is considered a lethal dose is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil – and two out five may contain that amount. According to the CDC, more than 93,000 people have died of a drug overdose in the past year. In Georgia, opioid overdose deaths rose by 36 percent in 2020.
“We have an epidemic on our hands,” said Carter. “These deadly fake pills are increasingly easy to purchase and widely available online. They’re showing up in the hands of children and are often kept secret from loved ones until it’s too late. If we’re going to combat this, we’ve all got to come together to make sure everyone understands the danger we face.”
The pills are illegally manufactured and made to look like real prescriptions like Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin or Xanax, even a relatively ubiquitous amphetamine like Adderall. They are often sold online via social media or e-commerce platforms, making their availability or accessibility to minors more than ever before. The alert from the DEA does not included legitimate prescriptions dispensed by licensed pharmacists and that supply chain is not impacted. The DEA is launching the One Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign along with the alert to emphasize how deadly these illicit drugs can be.
For more information, visit https://www.dea.gov/onepill
