Former President Donald Trump claimed at a current marketing campaign rally that greater than 300,000 People are dying every year from the artificial opioid drug fentanyl, and that the variety of fentanyl overdoses was the “lowest” throughout his administration and has skyrocketed since.
“We’re shedding 300,000 individuals a 12 months to fentanyl that comes by means of our border,” Trump informed his supporters at a July 24 marketing campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We had it all the way down to the bottom quantity and now it is worse than it is ever been,” he mentioned.
Trump’s figures seem to don’t have any foundation in actual fact. Authorities statistics present the variety of drug overdose deaths per 12 months is hovering round 100,000 to 110,000, with opioid-related deaths at about 81,000. That is sufficient that the federal government has labeled opioid-related overdoses an “epidemic,” however nowhere near the quantity Trump cited.
Furthermore, although the variety of opioid deaths has risen since Trump left workplace, it is incorrect to assert they have been the “lowest” whereas he was president.
Numbers are excessive, however nowhere close to Trump’s declare
Trump marketing campaign nationwide press secretary Karoline Leavitt would not remark particularly on the supply for Trump’s statistics. She as a substitute despatched KFF Well being Information an e-mail with a number of bullet factors concerning the opioid disaster below the heading: “DRUGS ARE POURING OVER HARRIS’ OPEN BORDER INTO OUR COMMUNITIES.”
One such bullet famous that there have been “112,000 deadly drug overdoses” final 12 months and linked to a narrative from NPR reporting that reality — straight rebutting Trump’s personal declare of 300,000 fentanyl deaths. Moreover, the quantity NPR reported is an general determine, not for fentanyl-related deaths solely.
Newer authorities figures estimated that there have been 107,543 complete drug overdose deaths in 2023, with an estimated 74,702 of these involving fentanyl. These figures have been in keeping with what specialists on the subject informed KFF Well being Information.
“The variety of precise deaths might be considerably greater,” mentioned Andrew Kolodny, medical director for the Opioid Coverage Analysis Collaborative at Brandeis College, noting that many such overdose deaths go uncounted by authorities researchers.
“However I don’t know the place one would get that variety of 300,000,” Kolodny added.
Trump’s declare that fentanyl deaths have been the “lowest” throughout his administration and at the moment are worse than ever can also be off the mark.
Overdose deaths — particularly these from artificial opioids comparable to fentanyl — began climbing steadily within the Nineteen Nineties. When Trump took workplace in January 2017, the variety of overdose deaths associated to artificial opioids was about 21,000. By January 2021, when he left the White Home, that tally was nearing 60,000, knowledge from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s Nationwide Important Statistics System reveals. Deaths involving artificial opioids continued to extend after Trump left workplace.
“There’s some reality to saying that there are extra People dying [of opioids] than ever earlier than,” Kolodny mentioned. “However once more, in the event you have been to have a look at tendencies in the course of the Trump administration, deaths simply just about saved getting worse.”
Within the final 12 months, although, statistics present that overdose numbers have plateaued or fallen barely, although it is too quickly to say whether or not that development will maintain.
Provided that Trump’s claims about fentanyl got here when discussing the southern border “invasion,” it is price noting that, in line with the U.S. authorities, the overwhelming majority of fentanyl caught being smuggled into the nation illegally comes by way of authorized ports of entry. Furthermore, almost 90% of individuals convicted of fentanyl drug trafficking in 2022 have been U.S. residents, an evaluation by the Cato Institute, a libertarian suppose tank, confirmed. That 12 months, U.S. residents obtained 12 occasions as many fentanyl trafficking convictions as did immigrants who have been within the U.S. with out authorization, the evaluation confirmed.
Our ruling
Trump mentioned, “We’re shedding 300,000 individuals a 12 months to fentanyl that comes by means of our border. We had it all the way down to the bottom quantity and now it is worse than it is ever been.”
Annual U.S. fentanyl deaths have elevated since he left workplace, however Trump’s declare about 300,000 deaths has no foundation in actual fact and is contradicted by figures his press secretary shared.
Trump is unsuitable to say that overdoses have been the bottom when he was president. Furthermore, Trump continues to hyperlink fentanyl trafficking to unlawful immigration — a declare statistics don’t help.
We fee Trump’s declare Pants on Fireplace!
Our sources
Cato Institute, “U.S. Residents Have been 89% of Convicted Fentanyl Traffickers in 2022,” Aug. 23, 2023.
Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, “U.S. Overdose Deaths Lower in 2023, First Time Since 2018,” Could 15, 2024.
C-SPAN, Former President Trump Campaigns in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 24, 2024.
Division of Homeland Safety, Truth Sheet: DHS Is on the Entrance Strains Combating Illicit Opioids, Together with Fentanyl, Dec. 22, 2023.
E mail alternate with Karoline Leavitt, nationwide press secretary for Donald J. Trump for President, July 29, 2024.
Nationwide Important Statistics System, Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, Provisional Drug Overdose Demise Counts, July 7, 2024.
NPR, “In 2023 Fentanyl Overdoses Ravaged the U.S. and Fueled a New Tradition Battle Struggle,” Dec. 28, 2023.
Cellphone interview with Andrew Kolodny, medical director for the Opioid Coverage Analysis Collaborative at Brandeis College, July 31, 2024.
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