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According to the findings of a fact check conducted by the Arizona Mirror, the statement made by the Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake that fentanyl overdoses are the primary cause of death in Arizona is untrue.
At a rally that was held in Mesa on Sunday with former President Donald Trump, candidate Jeff Lake made the claim that fentanyl was the “number one cause of death” for people between the ages of 18 and 45. He also stated that more than 4,000 people in the state have died from an overdose caused by the drug.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is significantly more potent than other opioids that are routinely abused. It is one of the factors that has contributed to a rise in the number of people who have died from an overdose caused by drugs, both nationally and locally.
According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), synthetic opioid overdoses were responsible for 1,108 deaths in the year 2020. This put them in second place, after accidents, as the major cause of death for persons aged 18 to 45 in the state. In the year 2020, accidents claimed the lives of 2,240 people in that age range in the state of Arizona. The third largest cause of death in the United States is suicide.
Synthetic opioids in the database can also represent other medications like tramadol; however, fentanyl has largely taken over as the synthetic opioid of choice for those who use the drugs illegally due to its low price and the ability to buy it in bulk. This is because fentanyl can be purchased in greater quantities.
In an interview with CBS News, Lake went on to link the deaths caused by fentanyl in the state to the deaths caused by COVID-19 in the state as well as the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. Lake stated this on an episode of Meet the Press. “We are losing more people to fentanyl in Arizona since Joe Biden came office than we did on 9/11 or during COVID,” Lake said.
The COVID epidemic has claimed the lives of 31,406 persons in Arizona, while the 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 residents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 1,476 deaths in Arizona related to synthetic opioids in 2020. Meanwhile, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 3,888 overdose deaths related to both synthetic and non-synthetic opioids, with 94.5% of those deaths being related to prescription drug use.
The Lake campaign did not react to any inquiries or requests for clarification that were made by the Mirror. In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the amount of fentanyl that is being trafficked in the state of Arizona. During a single investigation that took place in 2018, the Scottsdale Police Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office were able to make a record-breaking seizure of 1.7 million fentanyl tablets as well as more than 10 kilos of fentanyl powder.
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