<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> Unified School District students can soon carry Narcan nasal spray at school in case of an opioid overdose, officials announced.
Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho reportedly told school board members Tuesday in a message that an updated policy from the district will allow students to carry the medication at a time when drug cartels are smuggling deadly fentanyl across the southern border into the United States.
Narcan “cannot be used to get high, is not addictive and does not have any effect on a person if there are no opioids in their body,” Carvalho wrote to board members, The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-01/l-a-students-will-be-able-to-carry-narcan-in-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Carvalho added that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health “supports a clarification” in L.A. Unified policy “that would allow students to be able to carry Narcan in schools,” adding that officials would reissue an updated policy bulletin soon.
The existing district policy on administering Narcan that officials issued last year reads that the medication “must be kept at the school in a secure location accessible to designated school personnel.”
The Times reported that school board member Nick Melvoin supports the policy update.
“Narcan has the power to save lives and I’ve been working to expand its access to everyone in our school communities, including students themselves,” Melvoin said. “But the increased use of Narcan as a life-saving measure underscores the drug crisis that’s being brought to our schools.”
“We must do more to address the root causes of this crisis and that starts with education and more support for our youth,” he added.
Last year, a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-29/fentanyl-deaths-in-l-a-county-soared-1-280-between-2016-and-2021-report-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> showed 92% of teens who died from drug overdoses in 2021 tested positive for fentanyl in Los Angeles County, with 31 directly related to the deadly opioid.
The Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-seized-enough-fentanyl-in-2022-to-kill-every-single-american-and-then-some" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last December that the agency seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every single American citizen.
Officials said the DEA had seized some 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl, along with more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, with two weeks left in the calendar year 2022.
That amounts to more than 379 million lethal doses of fentanyl last year, more than enough to kill all 333 million people in the United States.
Los Angeles Unified announced last September that after student overdoses, schools would be stocked with naloxone, which medical professionals assert the supply of could make a difference in teen deaths.
District officials also said staff has been receiving training to administer the nasal spray.
Online and in-person substance abuse workshops and counseling will be offered to students and families starting in February and March, the Times reported.
“Through our existing initiatives, we will educate students and families about the safety and effectiveness of Narcan including the identification signs of an opioid overdose and the importance of alerting medical professionals when Narcan is used,” Carvalho wrote. “We remain committed to expanding access, education and training for this life-saving emergency medication.”

Opioid Overdose Treatment Narcan Available In Vending Machine In Wheaton, Illinois

Los Angeles Students To Be Allowed To Carry Narcan In Schools Amid Deadly Fentanyl Crisis

Drug Cartels

Education

Fentanyl

Los Angeles

Southern Border

Students

U.S.

The surge of fentanyl-related deaths in Seattle has risen so high that the county is running out of room to store the dead bodies.
King County has averaged more than one fatal fentanyl overdose death every day this month; 31 cases through January 22. Last year, over two-thirds of the fatal overdoses reported in the county came from fentanyl use. The 1,019 fatal overdoses constituted the highest number the county has ever <a href="https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/overdose-prevention/data.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a>, KTTH <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/3788318/rantz-seattle-running-out-of-dead-body-storage-due-to-fentanyl-ods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.
“The Medical Examiner’s Office is now struggling with the issue of storing bodies because the fentanyl-related death toll continues to climb. Obviously, they have finite space in the coolers they use, and that space is now being exceeded on a regular basis,&#8217;” Seattle-King County Public Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan admitted recently. He has also stated, “The biggest driver of these fatal overdoses involves fentanyl in white powder and in fake pills, which are flooding the streets.”
In 2021, the Washington Supreme Court <a href="https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicupload/eclips/2022%2006%2014%20Felony%20drug%20possession%20change%20in%20law%20rocks%20state%20legal%20system.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturned</a> the felony drug possession law, ruling that outlawing possession of drugs for personal use was unconstitutional.
“Statewide prosecutors’ offices were pretty shocked,” Cami Lewis, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the Kitsap County prosecutor’s office, recalled. “We had 40 years of precedent where the statute had been fine. &#8230; Law enforcement were relying on it, prosecutors were relying on it, courts were relying on it, and the Supreme Court relied on it. It was pretty shocking for them just to overturn it.”
“We have options for temporary morgue surge capacity when our census count gets high, including storing decedents on autopsy gurneys and partnerships with funeral homes,” a Public Health spokesperson told KTTH’s Jason Rantz. “We’re exploring longer-term options for adding more capacity.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dea.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that it had seized over 50 million fentanyl pills in 2022, as well as almost 11,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. “These fentanyl seizures represent more than 379 million deadly doses, the DEA stated, <a href="https://www.dea.gov/onepill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adding</a>, “The DEA Laboratory has found that, of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out of ten now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.”
“Many fake pills are made to look like prescription opioids such as oxycodone (Oxycontin®, Percocet®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), and alprazolam (Xanax®); or stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall®),” the DEA <a href="https://www.dea.gov/onepill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a>. “Never trust your own eyes to determine if a pill is legitimate. The only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.”

Like Many U.S. Cities, Seattle Struggles With Crime And Homelessness During Pandemic Era

Seattle Running Out Of Storage For Dead Bodies As Fentanyl Crisis Worsens

Drugs

Health

Seattle

Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw <a href="https://grabien.com/story.php?id=409099&amp;utm_source=cliplist&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=cliplist20230120&amp;utm_content=story409099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">championed</a> the use of the U,S. military to combat the drug cartels smuggling deadly fentanyl across the southern border into the United States.
Crenshaw spoke with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto, who prompted Crenshaw by asking what it was that had Crenshaw concerned.
“Well, look, we recently introduced AUMF, an Authorized Use of Military Force against the cartels and any other organizations that traffic fentanyl specifically,” Crenshaw answered. “So why now and why not years ago? These Mexican drug cartels have been around for a while. The difference now is fentanyl.”
“This is not a drug problem; this is not a war on drug problem; this is a poisoning problem,” Crenshaw declared. “And they are killing about 80,000 Americans a year. And the Mexican government does very little to thwart this.”
“I think there should be bipartisan efforts in Congress to pass an Authorized Use of Military Force to deal with them,” he asserted. “If anything, that simply gives our president more leverage when trying to get the Mexican government to do its job, its job on thwarting immigration, which the cartels also control, and thwarting fentanyl coming north across our border and killing American citizens.”
Crenshaw turned to the deadly intentions of the drug cartels: “These people are a lot more like ISIS than they are the mafia. You recently saw a war in the state of Sinaloa after the Mexican government arrested El Chapo’s son. These cartels can actually battle close air-support; they’re battling government helicopters. This looks a lot like Mogadishu; it looks a lot more like Mogadishu that it does your typical organized crime battle, these people are well-equipped, they set up operating bases that are well-armed, right near our border, and they’re extremely dangerous. They’re some of the most capable, most well-funded, most dangerous organizations on the planet, and they’re right there.”
“Mexico is at risk of becoming a failed state,” he noted. “We have to work together with their government to deal with this.”
“The Mexican government has always resisted more U.S. involvement, and that’s to their detriment,” he insisted. “And so we are at a point now where their resistance is not only hurting them, it’s killing our citizens. And that’s when we have to say enough is enough; you’re gonna cooperate with us; we have an AUMF here that we’ve given the president military authority now; and so you’d better work with us, because we don’t want to do this without you but we will.”

U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) seen speaking at the

Crenshaw: Use The U.S. Military To Stop Drug Cartels Killing Americans With Fentanyl

Crenshaw: Use the U.S. Military To Stop Drug Cartels Killing Americans With Fentanyl

Dan Crenshaw

Mexico

A New Jersey middle school teacher was charged on Thursday after allegedly overdosing in a classroom in November. 
The Westfield, New Jersey, police chief <a href="https://www.westfieldnj.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4737/2023-01-06---Westfield-Police-Chief-Announces-Criminal-Charges-Against-57-Year-Old-Roosevelt-Intermediate-School-Teacher-Following-November-Class" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/09/1147786859/new-jersey-teacher-fentanyl-overdose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charges</a> on Friday, stating that the art teacher, Frank Thompson, 57, “has been charged with drug-related crimes and offenses, as well as endangering the welfare of children.” 
“While the Westfield Public School District cannot comment on personnel matters which are confidential, we will maintain a continued focus on student and staff safety and on preserving the integrity of the classroom learning environment,” Superintendent Dr. Raymond González said. “We are grateful for our strong partnership with the Westfield Police Department.” 
On the morning of November 29, Roosevelt Intermediate School’s resource officer called the police over “an unconscious teacher” in one of the classrooms. Thompson was “unconscious and unresponsive on the classroom floor.” Students reportedly found Thompson, and a school nurse was providing treatment to him. 
The resource officer noticed that Thompson appeared to be experiencing a drug overdose and he gave him Naloxone Hydrochloride, to which Thompson responded well. An investigation ensued, and “suspected controlled dangerous substance and various items of drug paraphernalia” were discovered inside a closet within the classroom.
Westfield Police officers gave Naloxone Hydrochloride to people suspected of overdosing on drugs 13 times last year. 
Thompson was charged with “Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (fentanyl),” as well as Possession of Drug Paraphernalia,” and “Endangering Welfare of Children.”
“The Westfield Police Department continues to prioritize its ongoing partnership with the Westfield Public School System to ensure it has the safety and security resources it needs on a daily basis,” Chief Christopher Battiloro said. “In this case, the swift actions of Officer Riga, who is on-site at Roosevelt Intermediate each school day, proved instrumental in maintaining the safety of the students and administering potentially life-saving measures to Mr. Thompson.&#8221;
The Drug Enforcement Administration&#8217;s (DEA) Rocky Mountain Division <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2023/01/09/dea-rocky-mountain-division-announces-record-fentanyl-seizures-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Monday that it brought in more than 5.8 million possibly fatal fentanyl doses last year.
The DEA reportedly also noted last month that it had seized more than 50.6 million fentanyl pills and over 10,000 pounds of powdered fentanyl, which would be enough to kill all Americans.
Fentanyl has been smuggled across the southern border between the United States and Mexico, creating dangerous and lethal situations for Americans around the country. 
New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/02/the-unprecedented-flood-of-fentanyl-into-ny-is-causing-heartbreaking-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the New York Post that “[t]he effect of this drug and the loss that people have suffered because of fentanyl is tremendous and it’s really widespread.”

0FB739E6-4A15-4D41-8F2D-440C3B90778B_1_105_c

New Jersey Art Teacher Charged After Allegedly Overdosing In Classroom

Crime

New Jersey

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, a train heading into Arizona from Mexico this week was caught transporting hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills and 196 pounds of methamphetamines.
The train entered the United States at the Nogales, Arizona, Port of Entry with 736,200 fentanyl pills. A two-milligram dose of fentanyl can be potentially fatal. The day before, 150,000 pills were found hidden in a vehicle.
“We&#8217;re going to continue to employ the strategy that we&#8217;ve been employing, which is aggressive prosecutions and prevention,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-border-officers-find-more-than-fentanyl-pills-hidden-train-arriving-mexico">Fox News Digital</a>.
“We are very focused on making sure that we deter crimes at the border, including the scourge of fentanyl trafficking that&#8217;s killing our residents, as well as preventing deaths in our community by getting into the community through an abundance of outreach programs in partnership with our law enforcement agency partners,” he added.
The Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11569627/US-border-guards-700-000-fentanyl-pills-196lbs-meth-hidden-inside-train.html">stated</a> that 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder had been found this year. Fentanyl can be as much as 50 times as strong as heroin.
Drug cartels pushing fentanyl have even entered the world of comic books; a comic book centered on a vigilante tracking down fentanyl dealers at the southern border went looking for public funds to support it, only to get banned on Twitter, then reportedly get shadow-banned on Indiegogo. Then the comic book was banned by Kickstarter after <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/private-american-censored-elon-musk-twitter/">leftists complained</a> the book featured a “racist” tone.
The Left-wing Daily Kos <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/7/2140583/-Punisher-creator-Mike-Baron-releases-another-Racist-AF-comic-book">described</a> “The Private American,” whose protagonist is a Cuban-American and ex-Green Beret who suffered tragedy at the hands of drug cartels before seeking them out, as “racist propaganda and stochastic terrorism disguised as a funny book.”
“It’s a classic vigilante story in the American mode,” Mike Baron, the book’s author, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC8b5TkPEsc">stated</a>. “I used to write ‘Punisher’ for Marvel, and this is the same type of character. In fact, this book came about when I asked myself, ‘What would the punisher be doing today?’ He’d be down on the southern border trying to stop the flow of fentanyl into the country.”
“There’s nothing against the immigrants who are trying to cross over just to get a better life; in fact, he’s there to save them, and that’s when we first meet him. He’s saving a young girl from being raped,” he added.

Fentanyl-pills3

Train Caught At Border Transporting Over 700,000 Fentanyl Pills

Customs and Border Protection (CPB)

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Biden Administration Sending More Assistance To Ukraine
The Biden administration announced today it is sending $1.85 billion in aid to Ukraine comprised of $1 billion in military equipment and $850 million in funding. The announcement came just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Washington, D.C., where he met with President Joe Biden. This evening, Zelensky will address congressional members on Capitol Hill, reportedly to ask for more weapons.
$1.7 Trillion Omnibus Advances
The Senate on Tuesday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/seasons-greetings-from-the-swamp-support-our-1-7-trillion-omnibus-bill-pay-your-taxes-and-kick-rocks-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced a massive 4,155-page spending package</a> totaling nearly $1.7 trillion by a 70-25 vote with 21 Republicans lending their support. Conservative critics claim the bill is loaded with pork and doesn’t properly address America’s most pressing issues.
House Ways and Means Committee Votes To Release Trump Taxes
The House Ways and Means Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-house-democrats-vote-to-release-years-of-trumps-tax-returns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> along party lines on Tuesday to release years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
DEA Seized Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every American In 2022
The Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-seized-enough-fentanyl-in-2022-to-kill-every-single-american-and-then-some" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it seized enough fentanyl so far this year to kill every single American citizen, comprised of 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl, along with more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, with two weeks left in the calendar year 2022. That amounts to more than 379 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
Musk Announces What&#8217;s Next For Twitter
Elon Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-stepping-down-as-the-ceo-of-twitter-reveals-what-hell-do-next" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Tuesday that he will be stepping away as the head of Twitter. On Tuesday night, he tweeted, “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software &amp; servers teams.”
California Earthquake Kills At Least Two
Two deaths and 12 injuries have been reported in association with the 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Northern California yesterday. More than 14,000 families are still without power in Humboldt County.
Today Is The Winter Solstice
And today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. From here on out, the days are going to start getting longer and brighter.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. For more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Zelensky, Biden

Wednesday Afternoon Update: Zelensky In D.C., $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Advances, DEA Seized Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every American In 2022

California

Donald Trump

General

Joe Biden

Morning Wire

Podcast

Spending Bill

President Joe Biden and &#8220;Border Czar&#8221; Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> couldn&#8217;t care less about the southern U.S. border.
But the crisis at the border has exploded as a federal court has ruled that a statute deployed by former President Donald Trump &#8212; Title 42, which gives the government the power to shut down the border as an emergency action to keep communicable diseases out of the country &#8212; can&#8217;t be used anymore.
It&#8217;s all about to get worse, but let&#8217;s pause to consider just how bad it already is at the U.S.-Mexican border.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-seized-enough-fentanyl-in-2022-to-kill-every-single-american-and-then-some" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> this week that agents intercepted 379 million potentially deadly fentanyl doses &#8212; enough to kill every American and then some. A fatal dose of the drug &#8212; a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin &#8212; is just two milligrams.
Most of the fentanyl trafficked into the U.S. comes from Mexico, the DEA says, and most of it was produced at secret factories in Mexico by the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels. Both use chemicals sourced in China, the DEA said.
&#8220;DEA&#8217;s top operational priority is to defeat the two Mexican drug cartels &#8211; the Sinaloa and Jalisco (CJNG) Cartels &#8211; that are primarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today,&#8221; DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
The agency seized more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl, along with more than 50 million fentanyl pills, many that were made to look like legal prescription painkillers. The haul is more than double what the DEA seized in 2021.
And that&#8217;s just what the DEA was able to catch. Think about how much more fentanyl made it across the border and into the hands of Americans. In 2021, more than 100,000 died of drug overdoses &#8212; two-thirds of which were attributed to fentanyl.
It&#8217;s all going to get worse if Title 42 is lifted. President Donald Trump used Title 42 in 2020 as the COVID pandemic broke out worldwide. And in a wise move, President Joe Biden kept the rule in place. Since it was enacted, more than two million people have been expelled.
But families seeking U.S. asylum filed a lawsuit and a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to lift Title 42 by December 21 &#8212; although it has been stayed until after Christmas. When it is lifted, the floodgates will open: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials told U.S. lawmakers last Wednesday that some 50,000 foreigners are waiting to cross into the U.S.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday warned of the coming mayhem.
&#8220;If the courts don&#8217;t intervene and put a halt of removal to the Title 42 it’s going to be total chaos,&#8221; the Republican governor <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-gov-greg-abbott-end-title-42-bring/story?id=95476815" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sunday on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;This Week.&#8221;
&#8220;Some do come across with COVID and no one knows exactly who comes across with COVID. These people are not tested when they come across the border and so who knows how many people have COVID, who knows what other type of disease they may have. The answer is nobody knows because nobody is testing them,&#8221; the governor said.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

How Bad Is The Border? DEA Agents Seized Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every American In 2022

How Bad Is The Border: Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every American Seized In 2022

Border Crisis

Immigration

The Drug Enforcement Administration said it seized enough <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> so far this year to kill every single American citizen.
In a press release Tuesday, the DEA said it had seized some 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl, along with more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, with two weeks left in calendar year 2022. That amounts to more than 379 million lethal doses of fentanyl so far this year, more than enough to kill every single citizen of the United States. There are 333 million people in the United States, according to the <a href="https://www.census.gov/popclock/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Census Bureau</a>.
“In the past year, the men and women of the DEA have relentlessly worked to seize over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl from communities across the country,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/12/20/drug-enforcement-administration-announces-seizure-over-379-million-deadly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “These seizures – enough deadly doses of fentanyl to kill every American – reflect DEA’s unwavering commitment to protect Americans and save lives, by tenaciously pursuing those responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl across the United States. DEA’s top operational priority is to defeat the two Mexican drug cartels—the Sinaloa and Jalisco (CJNG) Cartels—that are primarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today.”
According to the press release, most of the fentanyl trafficked by the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels is mass-produced at secret Mexican factories with materials mostly sourced from China. Much of the drug is pressed into the shape of common prescription drugs that are used recreationally, such as OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax, and others. The counterfeit pills contain just fentanyl and a filler, and are often deadly. They are readily available on social media.
The DEA press release cautioned consumers to only ever take medications prescribed directly by a trusted physician and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.
According to DEA laboratory tests, six out of ten counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl contained a potentially lethal dose. That was an increase from 2021, when four out of 10 pills the agency tested were found to contain a lethal dose.
According to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-issues-warning-over-emerging-trend-of-rainbow-fentanyl-across-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another press release</a> from the agency earlier this year, fentanyl is one of the strongest synthetic opioids in circulation; it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. A lethal dose of fentanyl is just two milligrams, roughly equal to 10-15 grains of table salt. Without proper lab testing, it is impossible to tell how much fentanyl is concentrated in a particular pill or powder sample.
More than 107,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2021, according to data from the CDC — the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/record-number-of-americans-died-from-drug-overdoses-in-2021-cdc-data-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest number on record</a>. Synthetic opioids accounted for a large share (71,000) of the deaths, The New York Times reported. Furthermore, the nonprofit advocacy group <a href="https://twitter.com/FafFentanyl/status/1471270179783032833?s=20&amp;t=JMOmb9zR7aR_FWzya2kHyg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Families Against Fentanyl</a> tweeted in December that buried in the CDC data is the fact that fentanyl specifically was the leading killer of Americans in the 18-45 age range.
Fortunately, researchers at the University of Houston have developed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-vaccine-targets-fentanyl-may-offer-route-back-to-sobriety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccine</a> that could help fentanyl addicts beat addiction by preventing relapses.
“Our vaccine is able to generate anti-fentanyl antibodies that bind to the consumed fentanyl and prevent it from entering the brain, allowing it to be eliminated out of the body via the kidneys,” lead researcher Colin Haile said. “Thus, the individual will not feel the euphoric effects and can ‘get back on the wagon’ to sobriety.”

DEA Seized Enough Fentanyl In 2022 To Kill Every Single American, And Then Some

Opioid Crisis

Population

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> is in Arizona on Tuesday but won&#8217;t be going to the border.
Why? Well, if you ask the &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-agent-who-allegedly-killed-hunter-biden-laptop-probe-resigns-reportedly-escorted-from-hq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Guy</a>,&#8221; there are &#8220;more important things going on&#8221; than the record amount of illegal immigration America is facing.
&#8220;Why go to a border state and not visit the border?&#8221; Fox News reporter Peter Doocy <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-defends-skipping-border-visit-arizona-says-more-important-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> Biden before he departed for the Grand Canyon State.
&#8220;Because there are more important things going on,&#8221; Biden said bluntly. &#8220;They’re going to invest billions of dollars in a new enterprise.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WOW: Joe Biden, when asked why he won&#39;t visit the border during a visit to Arizona today, says, &quot;Because there&#39;s more important things going on.&quot;
Tell that to the Border Patrol. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenBorderCrisis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenBorderCrisis</a> <a href="https://t.co/SEbQG5Ix1t">pic.twitter.com/SEbQG5Ix1t</a>
&mdash; John Cooper (@thejcoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/thejcoop/status/1600146711610986497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While in Arizona, the president will tout Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.&#8217;s announcement of a second chip plant in the state, according to CNBC. The semiconductor company will invest $40 billion into Arizona&#8217;s economy.
It&#8217;s an important win for Americans, but Biden misses the point.
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What could possibly be more important as commander-in-chief than defending America&#8217;s borders? We don&#8217;t have a proper country if we don&#8217;t have strong borders.
Under Biden, our nation&#8217;s sovereignty has faced relentless attacks from illegal border crossers.
The U.S. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/73000-gotaways-southern-border-november-highest-ever-recorded?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email">saw</a> 2,378,944 encounters at the border in the fiscal year 2022. That number excludes the nearly 600,000 known &#8220;gotaways&#8221; who escaped custody altogether. In the fiscal year 2021, there were 389,155 &#8220;gotaways.&#8221; As pointed out in political strategist Ryan Girdusky&#8217;s <a href="https://natpop.substack.com/p/national-populist-newsletter-22d?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newsletter</a>, the U.S. has already experienced 137,000 &#8220;gotaways&#8221; in fiscal year 2023.
In other words, it is a full-on deluge getting worse by the month.
By <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/border-democrat-henry-cuellar-the-border-is-not-secure-under-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some estimates</a>, there have been more than 4.5 million encounters at the border under the Biden administration alone. Millions of those individuals have been released into the U.S.
But if you ask Biden, he can&#8217;t even be bothered to visit the border to see the destruction firsthand. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer&#8217;s (D-NY) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-thanks-schumer-wants-amnesty-for-11-million-or-however-many-illegal-aliens-are-in-the-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">solution for the problem</a> is mass amnesty for every single illegal alien.
Yet it seems like the president doesn&#8217;t see any &#8220;problem&#8221; at all. If he did, he would have cleaned house at the Department of Homeland Security by now.
Biden also ignores the Angel Families who have lost loved ones to illegal aliens over the past few decades.
According to The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s <a href="https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/the-got-away-crisis-our-southern-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Morgan</a>, &#8220;From 2011 -2022, more than 259,000 illegal aliens were charged with more than 433,000 criminal offenses, including 800 homicides, 822 kidnappings, and 5,479 sexual assaults&#8221; in Texas alone.
So long as the border isn&#8217;t secure, similar crimes will continue. Every American is impacted by it.
The president&#8217;s words dismiss the plight of those addicted to fentanyl — a narcotic that was the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/record-number-of-americans-died-from-drug-overdoses-in-2021-cdc-data-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">main contributor</a> to America&#8217;s 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 — as well as their families.
Much of that fentanyl comes <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fentanyl-us-mexico-border/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">through the southern border</a> after being synthetically made in China. The drug cartels then pay or coerce smugglers known as &#8220;mules&#8221; to sneak it into America, where it is transported deep into the interior. The U.S. has had some success in slowing down such fatalities — but that&#8217;s in spite of Biden&#8217;s border policies — not because of them.
Congressman David Trone (D-MD) recently <a href="https://www.tpr.org/2022-12-03/biden-administration-says-it-is-making-progress-slowing-the-rate-of-fentanyl-deaths" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NPR, &#8220;Our success right now on slowing or stopping the movement of fentanyl across the border is close to zero. We are failing because we have two partners, China and Mexico, who have chosen not to participate in any meaningful way to help us.&#8221;
That&#8217;s a Democrat saying that — not a Republican.
Of course, the U.S. is failing because <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosi-and-the-swamp-millions-of-babies-killed-record-overdoses-job-loss-and-open-borders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">D.C. establishment</a> policies and rhetoric encourage illegal immigration, benefit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/drug-cartels-seize-bidens-criticism-of-border-patrol-tell-smugglers-to-provoke-force-for-media-coverage-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cartels</a> who make millions, and create a situation where immigration authorities are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-staggering-numbers-from-bidens-border-crisis-show-record-highs-across-the-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overwhelmed</a>.
Meanwhile, we have a president who spits in the face of every American by saying there are &#8220;more important things going on&#8221; to deal with.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
RELATED:<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bad-news-for-americans-bipartisanship-is-back-here-comes-amnesty" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Bad News For Americans, Bipartisanship Is Back: Here Comes Amnesty</a>

‘More Important Things Going On’: Biden Spits In The Face Of Every American With Latest Excuse For Not Visiting Border

Biden Insults Every American With Latest Excuse For Not Visiting Border

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A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Mexico</a> mother used her children to allegedly traffic a fatal dose of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> to their father, according to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Justice</a>.
Authorities arrested and charged Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 46, with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/mother-accused-using-children-mule-fatal-fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Tuesday. Silva Banuelos’ boyfriend and father of her two sons died in an airport bathroom in May after overdosing on fentanyl.
“I feel for these children. To lose one parent due to the actions of the other is a calamity for a child,” U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in a statement. “This defendant allegedly concealed fentanyl – a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin – in her own minor sons’ luggage. This drug has stolen too many futures and ruined too many lives. The Justice Department remains determined to hold accountable those who spread it.”
Silva Banuelos faces up to life in prison if convicted. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years.
The defendant placed her two sons, ages 8 and 10, on a flight from Albuquerque to Dallas on May 31 to visit her on-again, off-again boyfriend — the boys&#8217; father. Surveillance video shows the father meeting his sons at the gate, going through their luggage, and entering a nearby airport bathroom at 10:26 p.m., according to authorities. The man died a short time later after overdosing on fentanyl.
At a November 17 detention hearing in New Mexico, prosecutors said the defendant “used her minor children to mule drugs.”
Investigators recovered a makeup container holding more than a gram of fentanyl from inside the bathroom stall the man died in. Investigators also recovered a series of text messages between the defendant and the deceased that, according to authorities, suggest she knew about the fentanyl and trafficked it to him using their children. According to the DOJ, the messages said:
<blockquote>“Hey you need to be careful,” she wrote a few hours before he died.
“Yes ma’am. Very slow and easy,” he replied.
“Just one and then wait you’ll see,” she said. “Just one.”
“Ok cool. Thank you. Will do,” he said.
“No passing out on the kitchen floor,” she responded. “Seriously you could od. No dying on the kitchen floor … It’s going to f*** you up!!!&#8221;</blockquote>
“This arrest and detention is yet another example of the devastation that fentanyl continues to reap on families throughout the country. The actions of Ms. Banuelos risked the lives of her minor children by concealing a highly potent drug in their luggage during a flight from Albuquerque to Dallas,” Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) acting Special Agent in Charge W. Guy Baker said. “The DEA will continue to work side-by-side with our state and local partners in investigating drug related poisonings and overdose deaths to hold those accountable for their actions.”

Mother Charged With Using Sons Ages 8, 10 To ‘Mule’ Lethal Dose Of Fentanyl To Their Father

Department of Justice

New Mexico

Texas

While methamphetamine has been a problem in the United States for a long time, there is a rising concern about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fentanyl</a> use and fatal overdoses. However, the two drugs combined are adding another layer to the crisis.
According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, “[o]ver 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.” Now, there is an increasing number of overdoses that are being caused by a combination of multiple drugs.
Last year, 20% of the total fatal overdoses included an opioid like fentanyl and a psychostimulant, such as meth, according to preliminary federal information, per <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/meth-fentanyl-combo-emerges-as-new-driver-of-overdose-deaths-11668438636?mod=us_more_pos6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>. Ten years before that, those combinations only made up around 2% of fatal overdoses.
While using any of these drugs on their own poses serious health risks and even death, meth can lead to deadly heart damage, hallucinations, and erratic actions.
Last year, around two-thirds of people who died while using psychostimulants also had opioids in their systems, but that isn’t always intentional. Sometimes the drug they intended to consume is laced with something else, or there’s cross-contamination where the drugs are produced.
There is also an increase in overdose deaths across the board. Federal data revealed that last year, around 33,400 deaths involved psychostimulants, which was an increase of more than 340% from five years before. In the same amount of time, fatalities involving synthetic opioids increased 270% and total drug fatalities also rose 71%.
As psychostimulant deaths have become more common, so have deaths that also involved opioids. Last year, around 75% of meth-related fatalities in the state of North Carolina also involved fentanyl.
Meth and fentanyl usage has both surged across the country and are spreading into new regions. For example, drug traffickers are pushing meth into the northeast and fentanyl availability is increasing in western states where meth once dominated.
There is also more fentanyl and meth being smuggled across the border. For example, a Mexican national was recently <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/record-breaking-fentanyl-meth-seizure-results-mexican-national-sentenced-108-months" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to prison for his involvement in an attempted smuggling of meth and fentanyl. The seizure was the country’s biggest for each drug for the calendar years 2021 and 2022 as of last month. The trafficking attempt included more than 17,000 pounds of meth and about 389 pounds of fentanyl.
This month, border officers <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-officers-seize-fentanyl-and-methamphetamine-bridge-americas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> 26 pounds of meth and 10 pounds of fentanyl in El Paso in the same smuggling effort. Port Director Ray Provencio said that it’s not normal to find huge quantities of two different hard drugs, but dual smuggling is becoming more common.
As of October, Border Patrol agents from the San Francisco sector had <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/border-patrol-agents-seize-over-500000-worth-fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized</a> more than 1,000 pounds of fentanyl since the start of this fiscal year, which is a 200% increase from the last year. While fentanyl seizures are more of a recent trend, the inflow of meth has been a problem for much longer.

F0B649D8-2595-41FD-85FF-DE988A249C9E_1_201_a

Combinations Of Fentanyl And Other Drugs Add New Dimension To Devastating Overdose Epidemic

Medical Research

Researchers at the University of Houston have developed a new vaccine for the dangerous drug fentanyl, which has killed thousands of Americans.
Illicit fentanyl, which is primarily smuggled into the United States from Mexico, is being mixed with other illicit drugs, then sold as powders, nasal sprays, or even pills looking like legitimate prescription drugs.
“Over 150 people die every day from overdoses of synthetic opioids including fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine,” SciTech Daily <a href="https://scitechdaily.com/fentanyl-vaccine-breakthrough-potential-game-changer-for-opioid-epidemic/">notes</a>.
“Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage,” the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) <a href="https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>.
“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered,” Anne Milgram, administrator of the DEA, has<a href="https://www.dea.gov/fentanylawareness" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> stated</a>. “Fentanyl is everywhere. From large metropolitan areas to rural America, no community is safe from this poison. We must take every opportunity to spread the word to prevent fentanyl-related overdose death and poisonings from claiming scores of American lives every day.”
Roughly 80% of people who have become dependent on fentanyl suffer a relapse, estimates say. But the new discovery can act as a relapse prevention agent.
“Our vaccine is able to generate anti-fentanyl antibodies that bind to the consumed fentanyl and prevent it from entering the brain, allowing it to be eliminated out of the body via the kidneys,” lead author Colin Haile stated. “Thus, the individual will not feel the euphoric effects and can ‘get back on the wagon’ to sobriety.”
“These preclinical results demonstrate efficacy in neutralizing FEN’s effects and warrant further development as a potential therapeutic for OUD and overdose in humans,” the study <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/14/11/2290/htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a>, adding, “We expect minimal side effects in clinical trials because the two components of our formulation (CRM and dmLT) are already in other vaccines on the market or have been tested in multiple human clinical trials and shown to be safe and effective.”
No side effects were observed in the rats used in the study; the research team has plans to start manufacturing clinical-grade vaccine soon followed by clinical trials in humans .
Study co-author Therese Kosten added, “Fentanyl use and overdose is a particular treatment challenge that is not adequately addressed with current medications because of its pharmacodynamics and managing acute overdose with the short-acting naloxone is not appropriately effective as multiple doses of naloxone are often needed to reverse fentanyl’s fatal effects.”

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New Vaccine Targets Fentanyl, May Offer Route Back To Sobriety

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