Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has said that the United States lost nearly 110,000 of its citizens to drug overdose in 2022,
The economic toll, he said, was nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone.
Blinken was speaking at the weekend to the senior government officials from more than 80 countries, as well as leaders from over a dozen regional and international organisations during the the launch of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.
America, he said, acutely feels synthetic drugs because they are the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49.
“Nearly 110,000 Americans died last year of a drug overdose. Two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids.
For the individuals, the families, the communities affected, the pain caused by these deaths and by the millions who suffer with substance use is immeasurable.
It’s also inflicting a massive economic toll – nearly $1.5 trillion in the United States in 2020 alone, according to a report by our Congress; our public health system, our criminal justice system all bearing the costs,” Blinken said