‘It’s devastating’: how fentanyl is unfolding as one of America’s greatest tragedies

More than 100,000 people died from overdoses in a single year - driven primarily by one drug

It was August 2020, and Luca Manuel, 13, was starting eighth grade the following day in Redding, California. He was excited to see his friends; his mother had bought him a stash of masks and school supplies for his first in-person school day in six months.

But the week earlier, he'd gotten a root canal, and his mouth still hurt. He sent a message on Snapchat to find marijuana for the pain. Instead, the dealer said he had something better: Percocet.