Findings from the DEA’s 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment

 

Findings from the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment, released on May 9, 2024, show that Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat the U.S. has ever faced, killing nearly 38,000 Americans in the first six months of 2023 alone. Fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, like methamphetamine, are responsible for nearly all of the fatal drug overdoses and poisonings in our country. 

In pill form, fentanyl is made to resemble a genuine prescription drug tablet, with potentially fatal outcomes for users who take a pill from someone other than a doctor or pharmacist. Users of other illegal drugs risk taking already dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine that has been laced or replaced with powder fentanyl.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that drug-related deaths claimed 107,941 American lives in 2022. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for approximately 70% of lives lost, while methamphetamine and other synthetic stimulants are responsible for approximately 30% of deaths.

According to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, the DEA's top priority is to reduce the supply of deadly drugs in our country and defeat the two cartels responsible for the vast majority of drug trafficking in the U.S.

Fentanyl is the nation's greatest and most urgent drug threat. Just 2 milligrams (mg) of fentanyl is considered a potentially fatal dose. Pills tested in DEA labs average 2.4 mg of fentanyl – but range from 0.2 mg to as high as 9 mg. The advent of fentanyl mixtures to include other synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, or the veterinary sedative xylazine, have increased the harms associated with fentanyl.

Seizures of fentanyl, both in power and pill form, are at record levels. Over the past 2 years, seizures of fentanyl powder has nearly doubled. DEA seized 13,176 kilograms (29,048 pounds) of fentanyl powder in 2023. Meanwhile, the more than 79 million fentanyl pill seized by the DEA in 2023 is almost triple the amount in 2021. Last year, 30% of the fentanyl powder seized by DEA contained xylazine – up from 25% on 2022.

Social media platforms and encrypted apps extend the cartels’ reach into every community in the U.S. and across nearly 50 countries worldwide. Drug traffickers use technology to advertise and sell their products, collect payment, recruit/train couriers, and deliver drugs to customers without having to meet face-to-face. This new age of digital drug dealing has pushed the peddling of drugs off the streets of America and into our pockets and purses.

The DEA's National Drug Threat Assessment gathers information from many data sources, such as drug investigations and seizures, drug purity, lab analysis, and information on transnational and domestic criminal groups.

View the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment

https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/NDTA_2024.pdf