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Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The opioid death toll, and why fentanyl has become the drug of choice for Mexican drug cartels

New estimates from the CDC show another increase in overdose deaths last year -- to a record 72,000. That’s a lot more than the number of deaths from guns, car crashes, or even AIDS at its peak.

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By Madeleine Brand • Aug 15, 2018 • 1 min read

New estimates from the CDC show another increase in overdose deaths last year -- to a record 72,000. That’s a lot more than the number of deaths from guns, car crashes, or even AIDS at its peak. A lot of those deaths can be blamed on fentanyl, the synthetic opioid.

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    Madeleine Brand

    Host, 'Press Play'

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    Sarah Sweeney

    Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

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    Michell Eloy

    Line Editor, Press Play

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    Amy Ta

    Digital News & Culture Editor

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    Sam Quinones

    journalist and author of “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth”

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Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand