fentanyl

Clinicians at Penn Medicine report a growing number of patients experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms linked to medetomidine, a sedative increasingly found in the illicit drug supply. Health experts warn the drug may be mixed with opioids like fentanyl, complicating treatment and making withdrawal harder to manage than typical opioid dependence.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer against a man it describes as a criminal illegal alien linked to fentanyl overdoses at a Virginia high school. The detainer requests custody of the individual so he can be transferred to immigration enforcement after any local proceedings, amid ongoing concern over fentanyl reaching students.

Former district attorney George Brauchler writes in Colorado Politics that the state cannot afford to do nothing about the fentanyl crisis. He argues that inaction on the drug, which has driven a rise in overdose deaths, carries unacceptable costs for Colorado, and urges lawmakers to take firmer legislative action.