Fentanyl has emerged as a major crisis, becoming the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 49. This synthetic opioid's rise has reshaped the drug landscape in Central America, particularly in Guatemala, where it has severely impacted the traditional opium poppy trade. Economists and European governments, as noted by Giovanni Legorano, are increasingly concerned about the potential for a similar crisis in Europe. In Guatemala, the decline in opium production has forced many poppy farmers into poverty, leading to increased migration to the United States.
How fentanyl laid waste to Guatemala’s time-worn opium trade https://t.co/DR0I5e7aMt
In Guatemala, poppy farmers are losing their primary income from what had been their only cash crop, forcing many in poverty-stricken areas to migrate to the United States. (Via @nytimes) https://t.co/dNHetYTKVK
European governments are increasingly worried that fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids may grip the continent and plunge it into a U.S.-style crisis, Giovanni Legorano writes. https://t.co/WpuerOr4pv
Reshaping the drug war in one of Central America’s most lawless corners, the fentanyl boom has devastated the trade in opium poppies used to make heroin. https://t.co/1Zd5SvCNXK
Fentanyl is now almost certainly the biggest killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 49. Economists may have at last found a convincing explanation for the crisis https://t.co/dkErRAAVkU 👇