In 2022… a report by the Stanford Lancet Commission stated that “the opioid crisis stands out as one of the most devastating public health disasters of the 21st century in the United States and Canada…”

Not much has occurred since then to shift that belief… the opioid crisis, involving fentanyl in particular, continues to dominate our conversations… The end of 2023 saw over 750 drug overdose deaths in San Francisco alone, with fentanyl making up more than 81% of those deaths…

So, how did we get here…? How did fentanyl take over the drug market and become so devastating to so many?

For a closer look at all this… KCBS's Mary Hughes is joined by Sam Quinones… freelance journalist and author of books about the opioid epidemic… His most recent book is The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth…