Fentanyl is fast, cheap and deadly
reuters.com
reuters.com
And the more you drive the production underground, the worse quality control, and the deadlier per pill.
Therefore, the only solution is to reduce demand. I'm no expert. But things I can think of include mass media campaigns, such as those for anti-cigarettes, mass education programs starting with middle schoolers, and go from there.
Also, it's not clear from reading the article whether the overdose deaths are from drug dealers mixing lethal doses of fentanyl into other drugs like cocaine or if people are taking fentanyl that was dosed incorrectly. If it's the former, then it's terrifying to know that any illegal drug could potentially have lethal doses of fentanyl in it.
For some reason, I chose not to take it and just endure the pain. In an alternative universe, maybe I chose to take it and got addicted to pain killers.
Thinking back, it's so easy to come across these powerful legal painkillers in the US.