According to government officials, fatal overdoses of opioids could cost $1 trillion per year.

Enjoy the best of both worlds. report published Tuesday by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, it was revealed that synthetic opioids — primarily fentanyl — were responsible for almost two in three reported drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in the year to June 2021.

The report stated that drug overdoses were responsible for more than 100,000 deaths in the same period. That’s an increase of 30% compared to a previous year. And overdoses have been responsible for more than 1 million deaths in the U.S. since 1999, according to the report — that’s more than double the number caused by firearms or car accidents.

Representatives from several federal agencies and departments make up the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking. The Senate and House of Representatives each appointed four members.

According to its report, “The cost of overdose deaths in 2018 was $696 billion according the White House Council of Economic Advisers,”

“It’s therefore possible to conclude that overdoses of drugs are currently costing the United States around $1 trillion each year.”

The report states that this staggering amount was primarily due to lost productivity, early deaths and health care costs.

President Joe BidenDeclared the illegal drug trade national emergency a December Executive Order.

2017: Former President Donald Trump declared America’s opioid epidemic a public health emergencyIt was a source for “national shame”

On Tuesday, the report stated that synthetic drug trafficking into the U.S. wasn’t just a health emergency but also a national crisis that threatened both national security and the economic well-being of the country.

The report said that illicit synthetic opioids “have the effect of an inexplicable weapon of mass destruction in pill form” and cause significant economic damage.

There are many ways that the government can respond to the crisis of opioid addiction. The Commission recommended the creation of a central agency to oversee all U.S. drug policy implementations. Additionally, the Commission recommended to increase access and collaborate with other countries that are involved in producing and selling synthetic opioids.

The Council on Foreign RelationsThis epidemic is being called by the United States as one of its worst ever drug crises. According to the CFR, more than 1,300 people per week die from opioid-related overdoses, while millions more Americans suffer from opioid addiction.

The rising rate of overdose death from opioids was responsible for the Covid-19 crisis. reducing life expectancies in the United States. The American life expectancy fell again in 2020. largely attributed to the pandemicHowever, opioid-related deaths played an important part.

According to the Tuesday report, opioid-related and substance abuse fatalities increased as the pandemic hit.

It stated that “Shockingly the number of deaths from overdoses in the United States have risen exponentially” since 1979. This does not seem to be changing anytime soon.

Since 1999, more than one million Americans have died from drug overdoses. In a Tuesday press release, Rep. David Trone (co-chair) stated that one million Americans have died from overdoses due to our failure in responding to the opioid crisis.

Co-chair Sen. Tom Cotton added that 274 Americans die every day from drug overdoses — that’s one person every five minutes, “and every day it gets worse.”

Fred Upton (a fellow member of the Commission) called on authorities to clamp down on Mexican drug cartels and stated that the U.S. should “force China to stop supplying their pharmaceutical industry with base compounds to make synthetic opioids.”