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Nationally, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, now cause more overdose deaths than any other illicit drug. Synthetics are substances created in a lab that trigger the same brain receptors as natural opioids.
It’s part of the third wave of the opioid epidemic, which started with prescription pills and was followed by heroin. While both are deadly, neither class of drugs has resulted in as many overdose deaths than synthetic opioids. The latest provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that on average in 2024, synthetic opioids were found in 63% of overdose deaths in Georgia.
That’s because fentanyl and its analogs are more potent even in small amounts…