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Gangsta Boo Passing At Age 43 Brings Attention To Fentanyl Epidemic In America

Gangsta Boo Passing At Age 43 Brings Attention To Fentanyl Epidemic In America

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Gangsta Boo on January 21, 2017, in Atlanta. (Photo by Robb Cohen/Invision/AP)

The Jan. 1 death of Three 6 Mafia artist Gangsta Boo shocked the hip-hop world and highlighted the fentanyl epidemic in America. While there has been no official ruling on Gangsta Boo’s cause of death, it is believed she died of a possible fentanyl overdose.

The 43-year-old artist, whose real name is Lola Mitchell, had attended a concert in Memphis, Tenn., with her brother on Dec. 31, where he wound up overdosing and needed hospitalization. He recovered, but Gangsta Boo was found dead the next day around 4 p.m. at her home.

Sources told Page Six that narcotics were found on Gangsta Boo’s person.

It’s suspected that a fentanyl-laced substance is responsible for Gangsta Boo’s death, but police are investigating.

Considered heroin’s synthetic cousin, fentanyl is stronger and deadlier than heroin and up to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a prescription drug that is also made and used illegally. It is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, especially after surgery. But fentanyl that is sold on the street is usually made in a clandestine lab, STAT News reported.

Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. are on the rise.

“Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in April 2022. “Already this year, numerous mass-overdose events have resulted in dozens of overdoses and deaths. Drug traffickers are driving addiction, and increasing their profits, by mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs. Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl, until it’s too late.”

The CDC estimates that in the 12-month period ending in October 2021, more than 105,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, with 66 percent of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. In 2021, the U.S. experienced more fentanyl-related deaths than gun- and auto-related deaths combined.

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“Because of fentanyl, the era of ‘harmless’ drug experimentation with pills or powders is over. The street drug supply is poisoned. We have to make sure our social-media-savvy children understand — really and truly— that one pill can kill,” wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian.

The government is cracking down on corporations profiting from opioid abuse. Major drug companies, distributors and pharmacy chains reached settlements of opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governments totaling more than $50 billion, NPR reported.

Fentanyl remains available on the streets, and there have been reports of fentanyl being added to marijuana and sold to unknowing marijuana users. In December 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration said it had seized far greater quantities of illicit fentanyl than ever before in 2022.

Gangsta Boo performs as the opener for Run the Jewels at the Tabernacle on January 21, 2017, in Atlanta. (Photo by Robb Cohen/Invision/AP)