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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION TO ADDRESS THE DEADLY FENTANYL EPIDEMIC
WHEREAS, drug overdose or poisoning is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45; and
WHEREAS, nearly 70% of those deaths are due to Opioids, including Fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than Morphine; and
WHEREAS, more than 91% of Opioid overdose deaths involved Fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed 2,000 Opioid overdose deaths for 2022, breaking the previous record of 1,935 set in 2021; and
WHEREAS, Cook County has had two consecutive years of record high Opioid/Fentanyl overdose deaths; and
WHEREAS, just over 70% of the overdose deaths were in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, approximately 78% of the Opioid overdose deaths are male, African Americans make up 56% of the deaths, Latinos account for just under 15% and whites constitute 29% of the deaths; and
WHEREAS, these numbers and statistics are staggering and alarming for countless residents in Cook County and beyond; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that the majority of Fentanyl is sourced from China and trafficked into the U.S. by the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels; and
WHEREAS, the current federal border policy ignores and underestimates the impact of the Fentanyl epidemic on the front line; and
WHEREAS, the DEA says it seized enough deadly Fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American multiple times over; and
WHEREAS, the federal government must tighten the entry points at our borders and crack down on the external producers of this deadly drug; and
WHEREAS, many of Illinois' elected leaders reduced criminal charges for Fentanyl through the passage of the state's Safe-T Act; and
WHEREAS, current policies are failing as illustrated by the heartbreaking statistics and data. Opioid/Fentanyl death counts will tragically continue to grow without a new rational course of ac...
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