JOPLIN, Mo. — Fentanyl is the leading cause of drug death in the United States and that drug may be getting even more dangerous.
Lab testing revealed in 2025 that fluorofentanyl, mthylentanyl and the most dangerous of all, carfentanil were all observed in every United States region. Carfentanil had a 206% jump from 2024 to 2025. The drug is 100% more deadly that plain fentanyl.
Joplin’s immediate surrounding area is more prone to meth usage rather than fentanyl, but larger cities like St. Louis or Springfield see an increased fentanyl usage rate. Carfentanil is deadly in a much smaller dosage that fentanyl, making it much harder to save a person after an overdose.
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“Typically, on a fentanyl overdose or a meth overdose, one or two bursts or the Narcan will bring a person back. But with the carfentanil, it’s such a small amount that it takes to kill a person that sometimes it doesn’t work on them,” said Chad Allison…