A wave of cheap, potent synthetic drugs, including the animal tranquilliser tranq, is fuelling a worsening crisis in the US, with communities on Chicago's South Side on the front line.
01Summary
- 01President Donald Trump pledged a crackdown on drug cartels earlier this year, labelling many as terrorist groups.
- 02Drug overdose deaths fell from a peak of roughly 110,000 in 2022 to about 70,000 last year.
- 03Authorities are increasingly concerned about cheaper, more powerful synthetic drugs, including an animal tranquilliser called tranq.
- 04The BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports from the frontlines in South Side, Chicago.
02Why it matters
The rise of deadlier synthetics like tranq threatens to reverse recent declines in overdose deaths and deepen the crisis in already hard-hit urban and rural areas.
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