In the first three months of 2022, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s narcotics investigators seized more fentanyl than in the entirety of 2021, an indication of the exploding crisis around the synthetic opioid increasingly fueling overdoses across the state.
Fentanyl is significantly more powerful than heroin and can be produced in lab, which means it’s easier to manufacture and distribute. Its potency also makes it deadlier — especially for people who do not know that it’s present in their drugs. The Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation seized more than 59,000 grams in the first three months of 2022, compared to about 56,000 grams in the entire previous year.twice the amount of fentanyl than they did heroin in 2021, and 40 times the amount of fentanyl versus heroin in just the first three months of 2022, according to the report., and many opioid users are used to or even prefer fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is increasingly mixed with other illicit drugs to increase the potency, at a cheaper cost,” the report read.