The horror of war, one of humankind’s worst afflictions, is often summed up by the number of a nation’s soldiers killed, and here are examples: the war in Korea, 33,643 American military deaths; Vietnam, 58,220; Iraq, 4,550; and Afghanistan, 2,448.
Now let’s consider deaths by drug overdoses in the United States during just a single 12-month period ending last April. The record, stomach-churning figure is 100,000 — more than all the deaths cited above.
The major poisons afflicting so many are methamphetamine and opioids, one of which is synthetic fentanyl that’s now a chief threat, 20 to 100 times more powerful than heroin and illustrating as much daily.
