Fentanyl : The Cartel Is Alive and Well In Cortez Colorado
Photo Credit everplans.com
By Sherry Simmons 03/13/2022
Fentanyl death can happen, anywhere, and at any age.
(January 18, 2022- Connecticut middle school 13-year-old dies from suspected fentanyl overdose at middle school, police say)
Another child:
Authorities found bags of the synthetic opioid at teen's school.
According to an article published December 14, 2021 by Medical-X-Press - Ernie Mundell Healthday Reporter
"The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that between May 2020 and April 2021, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the more 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the country were tied to illicitly manufactured Fentanyl or its chemical cousins. "
Fentanyl overdoses are rapidly increasing. Fentanyl is unforgiving to say the least. A micro gram the size less than a grain of rice can be deadly.
(Photo Credit CTMirror.org $5 per death)
"The trend began months before that, however: New data released Tuesday by the CDC found rising rates of Fentanyl-linked fatal overdoses across the nation between 2019 and 2020.
These deaths "increased sharply in Midwestern states (33.1%), Southern (64.7%) and Western (93.9%) jurisdictions," according to a CDC report summarizing data from July 2019 through December of 2020.
Fentanyl is extremely potent and kills quickly. In fact, more than 56% of people who died from fatal overdoses involving the drug "had no pulse when first responders arrived" on the scene, said a team of researchers led by Julie O'Donnell. She's with the Division of Overdose Prevention at the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Open borders are the most dangerous threat to our nation. Undocumented people from all over the world flood in by the thousands every day. Without vetting, it is unknown how many dangerous criminals, cartel members, and drug runners enter our country, only to disappear somewhere into a community.
Until we close our borders, it is unlikely we will make a dent in the war against drugs, especially Fentanyl. Fentanyl is often made in environments which in itself is dangerous. In these settings, there is little or no supervision into the manufacturing of Fentanyl. Meaning there is no level of accuracy in the dangerous amounts. ( Photo Credit Police1)
The Medical-X-press article went on to explain how Fentanyl has been cloaked into other prescription drugs. "The plague of Fentanyl deaths only seems to have "accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic," the study authors stressed. Only in the Northeast has there been any sign of "plateauing,"
"According to O'Donnell's team, synthetic Fentanyl was "introduced primarily as adulterants in or replacements for white powder heroin," but then encroached into illicit markets once dominated by heroin.
More recently, fentanyl has been "pressed into counterfeit pills resembling oxycodone, alprazolam [Xanax], or other prescription drugs, and are expanding into new markets, including the Western United States," O'Donnell's group said.
China is a large supplier of fentanyl in the united states. In a story published by SABC news, September 2019, "China and the United States have only “limited” cooperation in stopping fentanyl smuggling, a Chinese narcotics official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after complaints China isn’t doing enough to help fight an opioid crisis in the United States (US).
US officials say China is the main source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl - related substances that are trafficked into the United States, much of it through international mail. China denies that most of the illicit fentanyl entering the United States originates in China.
US President Donald Trump last month accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of failing to meet his promises to crack down on the deluge of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues flowing into the United States. China labeled that “blatant slander."
Fentanyl is a cheap, relatively easy-to-synthesize opioid painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin that has played a major role in a devastating US opioid crisis."
Cortez recently had a triple overdose of fentanyl. Three people lost their lives and three families are left devastated. The three people have been identified as:
44-year-old Shondella L. Silas of Towaoc, 40-year-old Tharon F. Grayhair of White Mesa and 27-year-old Tilden D. Arrates of Towaoc.
An outside source told the Chronicles currently there is no active investigation into the source due to lack of information.
The first problem is the suppliers and not the addicts. The second problem is the criminal justice system. Even when drug dealers are arrested, the penalties they face are shamefully minor.
The crack down on drugs here seems to be minimal, perhaps its time for a new and fresh drug task force. The Cartel has been operating in Cortez for decades, and yet their main players have never been arrested. We, as a community, need to ask some hard questions, and start looking beneath the surface for answers.
Cortez has a serious problem. The drug situation here is becoming worse day by day. Cortez sits on the road map for human and drug trafficking. If we do not take out the root of the problem, it will not go away. Putting a bandage on by arresting addicts and small time dealers does little more than slow things down for a minute.
Wouldn't it be grand if Cortez, Colorado was known for the absolute toughest penalties, and zero tolerance for the drug suppliers - AKA cartel? The Cartel is alive and well here, we just need to take off our rose colored glasses and dig into why.
Thank you for this article.. sad state of affairs!