A year into its One Pill Can Kill initiative, the Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration has seized the equivalent of more than 36 million lethal doses of fentanyl between May 23 and Sept. 8.
During the summer, the DEA seized more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and about 980 pounds of fentanyl powder. In 2021, 107,622 Americans died from overdoses, and the Justice Department attributes two-thirds of those deaths to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
Rainbow fentanyl, a term the Justice Department coined in February to describe pills sold in bright colors, has been found in 21 states.