Overdose deaths among Latinos in the United States have nearly tripled since 2011, according to the report published this month in the American Journal of Epidemiology. While the nation’s opioid crisis has been predominantly considered white and rural, overdose deaths among Latinos have skyrocketed in recent years, with experts attributing the rising numbers to the rise of fentanyl, especially mixed with other drugs.

According to NBC News, “Fatalities from overdoses have risen dramatically when fentanyl is mixed with other drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, which are more prevalent among Latinos than are heroin or prescription painkillers, according to study co-author Magdalena Cerdá, professor and director at the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU Langone”.

Fentanyl is highly addictive, so some dealers may mix it with other drugs to make their clients more dependent. On the other hand, there are those who consume fentanyl intentionally because they have developed tolerance to opioids and need higher and higher doses. Between 2007 and 2019, fatal overdoses among Latinos of opioids mixed with cocaine increased 729 percent, and when mixed with methamphetamines, increased by 4,600 percent.

"Experts warn the opioid epidemic is entering a new phase: What started with prescription painkillers like OxyContin in the early 2000s is now almost entirely dominated by the illicit traffic of fentanyl, which is a far more deadly synthetic opioid, almost identical to heroin but 50 times more potent”, according to NBC that gathered data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The opioid crisis had already taken an even deadlier turn in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, when overdose deaths skyrocketed, and Latinos were hit hard. In Nevada, according to the CDC, while drug overdose deaths among people of all races and ethnicities increased 54.5 percent from 2019 to 2020, they increased 119.7 percent among Latinos, according to the same report.

“Latinos are recently being impacted more from the fentanyl crisis because a larger proportion of them live in cities like New York, Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles, where fentanyl has penetrated more, whether on its own or mixed with other drugs, according to Washington Post investigative reporter Scott Higham”.

But smaller cities with sizable Latino populations are experiencing an alarming increase in opioid deaths, as was the case in Carrollton, Texas, which saw a surge in overdose deaths among 14-year-olds in a city with more than 30 percent Latinos.

"For Latino immigrants, legal status issues and language barriers  make it harder to find help in rehab centers that can offer support to Latinos, and cultural and religious barriers further complicate things," NBC said.

Meanwhile, more Latino families are struggling to understand overdose deaths among people who had no history of addiction or didn't even know they were taking an opioid.