Charleston, WV (WOAY) – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is pushing social media CEOs to take action to prevent drug dealers from using platforms to sell fentanyl.
Morrisey wrote letters to the CEOS of Meta Platforms (Facebook), Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, TikTok Discord, and Telegram.
According to published reports, dealers are increasingly using social media to target teens.
The United States saw 107,622 drug deaths in 2021, a 15% increase of 13,967 from 93,655 in 2020. Almost the entirety of the growth is due to fentanyl.
West Virginia had 1,194 fentanyl and other synthetic opioid deaths in 2021, up 10% from 1,083 in 2020.
The Attorney General asked the social media companies to “provide my office with detailed information regarding the steps you have taken and will take in order to combat drug trafficking.”
