美国有线新闻 CNN 美国药物过量死亡人数创新高

For the first time ever over a 12-month period, the U.S. recorded more than 100,000 deaths from a drug overdose.

在12个月的时间里，美国有史以来第一次有超过10万人死于药物过量。

That took place from last spring to this spring.

这发生在去年春天到今年春天。

Health officials say the spike¹ in overdose deaths starting during the lockdowns of the corona² virus pandemic, and they blame that pandemic for playing a role in this.

卫生官员表示，在冠状病毒大流行封锁期间，药物过量死亡人数激增，他们指责疫情在其中发挥了作用。

In most of the drug deaths, almost 2/3 of them, opioids, synthetic³ pain killers⁴, were a factor.

在大多数药物死亡案例中，近三分之二的死亡案例中，阿片类药物和合成止痛药是一个因素。

This has been a -- an issue long before the pandemic, but it is clear that the problem has -- has never been worse.

早在疫情之前，这就已经是一个问题了，但很明显，这个问题从未如此糟糕过。

And I want to -- and I want to break it down a little bit for you.

我想，我想给你们稍微解释一下。

First of all, the numbers that you see on the screen reflect a one-year period, as you mentioned between April of 2020 and April of 2021, right in the middle of this pandemic.

首先，你在屏幕上看到的数字反映的是一年的时间，正如你提到的，从2020年4月到2021年4月，正好在这场疫情的中间。

More than 100,000 people have died of drug overdoses, and to give you an idea that's a significant increase compared the year before.

超过10万人死于药物过量，与前一年相比，这是一个显著的增长。

But I think it's also worth just digging a little bit deeper and -- and understanding the problem.

但我觉得还是有必要再深入挖掘一下，了解一下这个问题。

Most of this is from opioids and most of this is specifically from a type of opioid known as fentanyl.

大部分是阿片类药物造成的，大部分确切来说是由一种叫做芬太尼的阿片类药物造成的。

Each year alone, DEA has seen enough fentanyl to provide every member of the United States population with a lethal⁵ dose.

每年，美国缉毒局就要收到足够多的芬太尼，多到足以给每一个美国人致命的剂量。

And we are still seizing more fentanyl each and every day.

我们每天都在没收更多的芬太尼。

So what exactly is fentanyl? This is an incredibly potent⁶ synthetic drug.

那么芬太尼到底是什么呢? 这是一种非常强效的合成药物。

It's said to be 50 to 100 times stronger than other painkillers⁷.

据说它的药效是其他止痛药的50到100倍。

It was developed to help treat cancer patients in severe pain, but it's also been used to cut or be blended with other illegal drugs.

它被开发来帮助治疗癌症患者的剧烈疼痛，但它也被分割使用或用于与其他非法药物混合。

Because illicit⁸ pills that contain fentanyl are often made to look like prescription⁹ pills,

因为含有芬太尼的非法药物通常看起来像处方药，

some of the people who abuse them don't even know they're taking fentanyl and it's so potent that it's causing overdoses and deaths.

一些滥用它们的人甚至不知道自己在服用芬太尼，药效如此强，以至于会导致过量服用和死亡。

Who's abusing it? Millions.

滥用药物的是谁? 数百万人。

Before the pandemic hit, CNN estimated that more than 10 million Americans ages 12 and older had misused¹⁰ opioids in 2019.

在疫情爆发前，CNN估计2019年有超过1000万12岁及以上的美国人滥用阿片类药物。

We can assume from the new statistics that that's increased over the past year, and the majority of this abuse was of prescription painkillers.

我们可以从新的统计数据推测，这一数字在过去的一年里有所增加，而且大多数滥用的是处方止痛药。

So, people getting these pills illegally are in greater danger of getting fentanyl laced drugs.

因此，非法获得这些药片的人在服用含有芬太尼的药物时面临更大的危险。

Where are they coming from?

这些药物从哪儿来的?

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says most of the illegal fentanyl is manufactured in Mexico and then it's smuggled¹¹ into the U.S.

美国缉毒局表示，大多数非法芬太尼是在墨西哥生产，然后走私到美国。

Some of it has also come from India.

还有一些来自印度。

Over the years, several presidents have faced this problem.

多年来，几位总统都面临过这个问题。

In 2016, the Obama Administration set aside $1 billion to address the drug epidemic¹² which included heroin¹³ and opioids.

2016年，奥巴马政府拨出10亿美元来应对包括海洛因和阿片类药物在内的毒品盛行。

In 2018, the Trump¹⁴ Administration dedicated¹⁵ $6 billion to the fight against opioids, and this year the Biden Administration has put $4 billion towards combating overdose deaths.

2018年，特朗普政府投入了60亿美元用于打击阿片类药物，今年拜登政府投入了40亿美元用于打击过量药物致死。

1 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

2 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

3 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

4 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

5 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

6 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

7 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

8 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

12 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

13 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。