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War on Drugs

Teen Overdose Deaths ‘Nearly Doubled’ in 2021

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2021 was “the deadliest year in U.S. history” and “the coronavirus is not solely to blame” reports the Associated Press. While CDC data shows the crude death rate for cancer rose slightly, as did diabetes, chronic liver disease and stroke, one tragic computation is teenage overdoses.

Data research suggests that although “drug use among teens is down”, unfortunately “adolescents experienced a greater relative increase than the overall population.” The largest jump in overdose deaths is among 14-to 18-year-olds, according to CDC data.

Although full data has not yet been finalized due to necessary lab work and investigations in drug overdose deaths, “provisional data through October suggests the nation is on track to see at lease 105,000 overdose deaths in 2021.”

That number significantly jumped up from the 93,000 deaths from 2020. Tragically, the number of overdose deaths in adolescents were “fairly constant for most of the last decade, at around 500 a year, according to the paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.”

Those numbers almost doubled in 2020, to 954, researchers estimate the total will hit  nearly 1,150 for 2021. The large spike is considered “unprecedented” by Joseph Friedman, a UCLA researcher who was the paper’s lead author.

Fentanyl is considered to be the reason behind what is killing our youth in increasing numbers.

The Associated Press reports fentanyl is a “highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years. More recently it’s also been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs that teens sometimes abuse.”

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Immigration

Thousands of pounds of meth seized from vegetable shipments in one week from one border location

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized large quantities of methamphetamine this month alone at just one cargo facility located in Otay Mesa, California. Law enforcement officials warn that this month’s thousands of pounds of meth were smuggled in none other than vegetables.

A shipment of peppers and tomatillos being driven by a 27-year-old male with a valid border crossing card driving a commercial tractor-trailer was stopped by CBP officers, reports The Center Square:

At first glance, the shipment appeared to contain only peppers and tomatillos. But after a K-9 unit screened it, officers examined the trailer and found a box containing a crystal-like substance. Additional officers were radioed to provide assistance and began extracting package after package hidden under the produce. They found 3,594 packages that were tested and identified as methamphetamine. The stash totaled 3,671.58 pounds.

At the same facility and in the same week CBP officers uncovered another massive load of meth being smuggled inside a shipment of carrots. The Center Square reports:

They stopped a 44-year-old man, also a valid border crossing card holder, driving a commercial tractor trailer hauling a shipment manifested as carrots. Officers unloaded the cases of carrots and found suspicious packages hidden underneath, which were tested and identified as methamphetamine. Overall, they seized 574 packages weighing approximately 2,900 pounds.

In both instances, the meth and commercial tractor-trailers were seized; the drivers were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations.

The Center Square writes that Mexican cartels for decades have devised creative ways to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S., including “task saturation” and “migrant warfare,” according to authorities. Surging resources in one area to leave the border open in another area enables cartel operatives and gangs they work with to commit a range of crimes. Another tactic is hiding people and drugs in trucks, including behind or under produce, to bring through ports of entry.

 

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