- Slug: BC-CNS-Fentanyl Report Graphic Short. 250 words.
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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 over 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.
