Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from opioid overdoses

The federal response remains sluggish and inadequate

THE GIRL looks like a typical teenager sitting on the bench of a fire station in Manchester, New Hampshire. But she is not. Just 19 years old, with acne still marking her face, she is here seeking help for opioid addiction.

Already she has been hooked for four years. At 15 she started with Percocet, a prescription drug. Now homeless, these days she uses fentanyl, a cheap, synthetic opioid. After checking herself out of treatment two weeks ago, she went on a meth- and fentanyl-fuelled bender.

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