"New numbers Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that drug overdoses killed more than 70,000 Americans in 2017, a record. Overdose deaths are higher than deaths from H.I.V., car crashes or gun violence at their peaks. The data also show that the increased deaths correspond strongly with the use of synthetic opioids known as fentanyls.
Since 2013, the number of overdose deaths associated with fentanyls and similar drugs has grown to more than 28,000, from 3,000. Deaths involving fentanyls increased more than 45 percent in 2017 alone."
Given how deadly overdoses are, you may wonder, why don't more drug users send their drugs into a lab for testing, to confirm that they are the drugs and the dosage they expect?
Because the DEA won't allow it, and will revoke the license of any lab that offers quantitative drug testing.
"In the United States, the handling of Schedule I substances (MDMA, LSD, Cannabis, etc) is restricted to those with a valid DEA license. Forensic labs such as DDL and others require DEA licensure in order to operate. The DEA has made an unpublished administrative rule that licensed labs are not allowed to provide quantitative data to the public, reportedly for fear of providing 'quality control' to dealers and suppliers of black market products. The DEA and other government organizations around the US perform thousands of tests of street pills each year, yet only a tiny amount of info about a small number of tests are published, except as aggregate data that cannot be verified."
https://www.ecstasydata.org/about_data.php#quant
Since 2013, the number of overdose deaths associated with fentanyls and similar drugs has grown to more than 28,000, from 3,000. Deaths involving fentanyls increased more than 45 percent in 2017 alone."
Given how deadly overdoses are, you may wonder, why don't more drug users send their drugs into a lab for testing, to confirm that they are the drugs and the dosage they expect?
Because the DEA won't allow it, and will revoke the license of any lab that offers quantitative drug testing.
"In the United States, the handling of Schedule I substances (MDMA, LSD, Cannabis, etc) is restricted to those with a valid DEA license. Forensic labs such as DDL and others require DEA licensure in order to operate. The DEA has made an unpublished administrative rule that licensed labs are not allowed to provide quantitative data to the public, reportedly for fear of providing 'quality control' to dealers and suppliers of black market products. The DEA and other government organizations around the US perform thousands of tests of street pills each year, yet only a tiny amount of info about a small number of tests are published, except as aggregate data that cannot be verified."
https://www.ecstasydata.org/about_data.php#quant