The alarming spike in fentanyl-related fatalities across the U.S. has been a growing concern for years, and now Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is drawing attention to a particularly chilling aspect of this epidemic: Drug dealers are deliberately targeting children as their clientele, resulting in a tragic increase in the child death toll.
DeSantis is now advocating for a shift in perspective when it comes to addressing this crisis. He believes it is imperative to treat these nefarious drug dealers as murderers and to acknowledge the truly devastating impact that fentanyl, a potent and lethal narcotic, is having on the nation.
In a tweet, the governor said, “We need to increase penalties for fentanyl dealers, especially those who target our children. And to do that we must treat them like the murderers that they are.”
Families Against Fentanyl (FAF) has released alarming information, revealing that the death toll among infants due to synthetic opioid fentanyl has seen an almost tenfold increase since 2015. In an even more shocking revelation, children between the ages of 1 to 14 experienced a 15-fold rise in fentanyl-related deaths, representing an increase of over 1,400%.
Between 2019 and 2021, the organization reported a staggering quadrupling of such fatalities in infants under 1 year of age. Deaths among toddlers aged 1 to 4 years old saw a more than threefold increase during the same period, while those aged 5 to 14 years old experienced an almost fourfold jump in fentanyl-related fatalities. In contrast, the overall national rate of fentanyl-related deaths across all age groups has doubled during this time frame. These alarming figures are based on the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which extends up to 2021.
Jim Rauh, founder of FAF, has released the following statement regarding these increases in child mortality from fentanyl: “These disturbing new findings should serve as a wake-up call to our nation's leaders. FAF is calling for the Biden administration to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction and immediately establish a White House task force dedicated to the fentanyl crisis. Americans deserve to know what is being done to save lives, and what is being done to uncover and stop the international manufacturers and traffickers of illicit fentanyl. This is the No. 1 killer of our nation’s young adults. It is killing more and more children each year. It’s time to treat this threat with the urgency it deserves.”
FAF emerged from a place of deep sorrow and determination after the tragic loss of the founder's son due to fentanyl poisoning. This grassroots organization has dedicated itself to raising public awareness about the devastating consequences of the illicit fentanyl crisis that has swept across the nation.
Not only does the group aim to educate communities, but it also works vigorously to propose tangible solutions that can effectively disrupt and dismantle the supply chain of this deadly synthetic opioid. By doing so, FAF endeavors to engage with the federal government in combating the spread of fentanyl and prevent any further heartache and loss of life from plaguing families and communities alike.
