The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl causes on average one death in the United States every seven minutes — more than die by car accidents, guns or suicide. Fentanyl is cheap and easy to mass produce and smuggle; when added to drugs like cocaine and heroin, it can cause people to overdose quickly, before they even realize they’ve ingested it at all. That’s all according to a new seven-part Washington Post investigation called “Cartel RX.” We’ll talk to the reporters behind the series about what’s driving fentanyl’s “catastrophic surge” in the U.S. and how experts think we can begin to turn the tide.
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