Families speak out on fentanyl overdose deaths
Founder of Families Against Fentanyl Jim Rauh and Sandy Snodgrass, who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose, joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the nationwide drug crisis and what they hope to see from the Biden administration.
Families devastated by fentanyl overdoses are urging the Biden administration to track overdose deaths like COVID-19 deaths as the fatal drug continues to ravage communities nationwide.
Founder of Families Against Fentanyl Jim Rauh, who lost his son to an overdose back in 2015, and Sandy Snodgrass, who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose last year, discussed how the Biden administration can mitigate the ongoing crisis Tuesday on "Fox & Friends First."
FENTANYL AWARENESS GROUP ASKS BIDEN ADMIN TO TRACK POISONING, OVERDOSE DEATHS LIKE COVID-19 DEATHS
"They're not reporting it in a timely manner, which is causing a great lag in information on how fast this is taking over," Rauh told co-host Carley Shimkus. "This material is expanding at an exponential rate, and they're evading responsibility by not publishing this data, and it's a loss of their responsibility."
"We have to have this data in order to respond to what's happening to us in real time," he continued.
The awareness group is advocating for more urgent, real-time data so officials can identify the areas most affected by the crisis and intervene accordingly to save potential victims.
According to CDC data, over 107,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2021, which is an all-time high. The numbers show a significant spike from 2020, when over 91,000 deaths were recorded.
US DRUG OVERDOSES TOPPED 100K IN 2021, REACHING ALL-TIME HIGH: CDC
"This was a rarity a couple of years ago," Rauh said. "Now it's a commonality. "We're finding that this growth is extremely alarming. We want this material tracked by COVID and treated like a weapon of mass destruction, what it really is."
Critics pin much of the blame on what they call the open southern border, as cartels exploit the staffing shortages and lenient policies by trafficking the drug into communities across the nation.
Last month, border officials seized over 90 pounds of fentanyl within a one-week period, enough to kill more than 10 million Americans.
Snodgrass lost her son last October to a fentanyl overdose in Alaska.
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"The border is the first order of business, and the major problem that we have in this country is the open border that's allowing fentanyl into the country," Snodgrass said.
"He received so much fentanyl that the police told me he probably dropped and died where he stood," she continued. "He was within shouting distance of help and wasn't able to shout."
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