NEW YORK — Opioid epidemic has continued to grow in the U.S. with extremely potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl flooding the market.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that would affect the brain’s limbic system, which controls emotions and feelings. Once consumed, the opioids attach to the brain receptors to reduce the brain’s perception of pain. However, the same receptors also control breathing and the digestive system. The receptors attached by opioids depress breathing and eventually lead to respiratory failure.

Chemically manufactured opioids are not just more powerful but are also cheaper to produce than heroin, which has to be made from poppies. Drug dealers mix fentanyl with heroin to reduce the cost and to make the drug much stronger. A very small amount can make someone seriously ill or die by merely touching or inhaling. This has led to a spike in heroin overdose in the U.S.

According to the Wall Street Journal, dealers often purchase fentanyl or other synthetic opioids online from suppliers in China, which is allegedly a major suppliers of synthetic opioids in the world. The drugs are often shipped from China to drug traffickers in Mexico, where they are mixed with heroin before smuggling into the U.S.