13 II. Summary of the Problem and National Strategies a. Trends with ‘Alarming Consequences’ The number of annual drug overdose deaths in the United States is now higher than those from the worst year ever of automobile accidents, gun violence or HIV/AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 70,000 people in our country fatally overdosed in 2017, most of them from synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil. Deaths from the synthetics grew by 45 percent just in 2017, the last year for which complete statistics are available. In a report on the epidemic, the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation said that: “Recent drug seizures give an indication of the severity of the problems confronting authorities. In May 2018, federal agents found 1.7 grams of carfentanil and fentanyl gel tabs in a California home, enough for 86,000 lethal doses. That same month, New York City Police charged three individuals with attempting to distribute 100 grams of carfentanil, which could kill up to 5 million people. In January 2018, NJ authorities confiscated 45 kilograms of fentanyl, enough to kill 18 million people or the populations of New York City and New Jersey combined. In two raids in 2018, authorities in Massachusetts seized 25 kilos of fentanyl, more than enough to kill the state’s entire population. It is clear that vast quantities of opioids with increasing potency are flooding the state and the country. The epidemic has not stalled; in fact, it is poised to accelerate with alarming consequences to our people, our communities, and the health of the state’s economy.”4 In an article in the 2017 Opioid Special Issue of the Pain Physician Journal, the authors noted that “The true incidence of addiction in opioid-treated chronic pain patients in the United States is unknown and may be higher than expected,” citing studies indicating 20% to 26% of patients are on long-term opioid therapy.5 The article explains the origins of this crisis as follows: