Lawmakers unite to close nitazene loophole as US battle opioid crisis at the border

A bipartisan bill is seeking to close a legal loophole for nitazenes, an opioid 40 times stronger than fentanyl, as the United States intensifies efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl through the southern border.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 105,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2023, with nearly 80,000 of those deaths involving opioids. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, was involved in roughly two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths by 2022, climbing from about 36,000 deaths in 2019 to over 76,000 in 2022. However, the number of fentanyl-related deaths decreased to about 48,400 in 2024.

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