Fentanyl, Inc. — Ben Westhoff

Read Westhoff’s testimony to U.S. Congress

Fentanyl now kills more Americans annually than any drug in history. The result of four years of investigation, Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Created the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic is the compelling story of the drug’s origins in a legitimate laboratory, its hijacking by rogue chemists and spread around the globe, the black markets in which it is sold and consumed, and efforts to contain the damage.

Most illicit fentanyl is made in China, and for the book Westhoff was the first journalist to infiltrate a fentanyl lab there. In two Chinese cities, pretending to be a buyer, he visited Breaking Bad-style drug operations making and selling fentanyls.

In Fentanyl, Inc. Westhoff also traces the drugs back to their source: almost all were developed as pharmaceuticals, before rogue chemists hijacked the chemical formulas and began producing them illicitly.

First synthesized by Belgian chemist Paul Janssen in 1959, fentanyl is now fueling the opioid crisis, which began in the 1990s with prescription pills like OxyContin. When patients got addicted, they turned to heroin, which has a similar effect. Now, fentanyl has emerged as the newest, deadliest option. It resembles heroin, except it’s made in a lab and is 50 times stronger. Just as fentanyl is replacing heroin, other novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are replacing traditional drugs like marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and ecstasy. In the process, NPS are upending the drug-enforcement landscape with ever-changing formulas that stay two steps ahead of the law. Westhoff explores this shadowy world at each step of the drug-distribution ladder, culminating with his revelation that the Chinese government is subsidizing this illicit industry, which is killing tens of thousands annually.

Fentanyl, Inc. also chronicles addicted users and dealers around the globe, families of victims, law-enforcement officers, and underground harm-reduction organizers — presenting a shocking and riveting full anatomy of a crisis we are just beginning to understand, and the unsung heroes who are emerging to fight it around the globe.

Westhoff has become the go-to expert on the subject of fentanyl and new drugs, sought out for consultation by top government officials, including from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. State Department. He has had full dedicated episodes of NPR's Fresh Air and the Joe Rogan Experience.

Praise for Fentanyl, Inc.:

“This is an exceptionally useful and well-timed book. I hope anyone concerned about this era’s new addiction epidemic will read it and put its messages to use. Ben Westhoff very skillfully combines pharmacology, politics, law enforcement, and gripping international intrigue in his account of America’s number-one public health problem. I hope Fentanyl, Inc. is widely read and influential.” -James Fallows

“The most frightening book of the year, and it’s mandatory reading . . . Epic . . . This is a story about people, and Fentanyl, Inc. features a roster of villains and victims who stray far from movie archetypes.”—Dig Boston

“A really fascinating book on a terrifying subject.” -Joe Rogan

“Westhoff is a skilled and empathetic biographer, and this gift serves the composite of the dealers, users and bereaved of Fentanyl, Inc.,” -Kelsey Ronan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"So many substance abuse books are a mix of hysterical in tone and a disappointing ‘paint by numbers’ in their execution, but this one really stands out for its research, journalism, and overall analysis…Definitely recommended, this will be making my year-end ‘best of’ list for non-fiction.” -Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

“Compelling…Fascinating… [Westhoff] seamlessly blends past and present in his profiles of Belgian chemist Paul Janssen, who was responsible for fentanyl's initial development in 1959; police officers; politicians; LSD drug kingpins, and St. Louis street dealers. . . . Drawing material from official reports, drug databases, scores of interviews, and years of personal research, Westhoff presents an unflinching, illuminating portrait of a festering crisis involving a drug industry that thrives as effectively as it kills. Highly sobering, exemplary reportage delivered through richly detailed scenarios and diversified perspectives.” –Kirkus (Starred Review)

“An exhaustive history of the development and rise of the drug at the center of the opioid crisis . . . Where the book really shines is in Westhoff’s ability to get inside the lives of his characters . . . A feat of reporting [and] an important book that arrives at a key juncture in the opioid crisis.”—New York Journal of Books

“Westhoff ranges widely, logging time with each link in the chain of production. Eventually, in the book’s intrepid centerpiece, he manages to infiltrate two Chinese chemical manufacturers.” -The Nation

“Westhoff looks at the new wave of synthetic drugs that are taking the opioid epidemic to a whole new deadly level. He managed to go undercover into one of the many labs in China where these drugs are being manufactured, and the results of his research there and elsewhere are terrifying . . . Anyone who is interested in learning more about the opioid crisis, or has read Dopesick, is going to want to check this out.” —Omnivoracious, the Amazon Book Review

"In Fentanyl Inc., Ben Westhoff lays bare the twisted history that led to opioids wreaking havoc on twenty first century America. If you want to understand the bloody cycle of addiction and death gripping the nation, you need to read this book." -Ioan Grillo, bestselling author of El Narco and Gangster Warlords

“Did not expect a book I was reading for my toxicology class to have me close to tears on the last page of the book…Potentially the best book I've read for class since Slaughterhouse-Five.” -Collin, GoodReads reviewer

Publicity: John Mark Boling <JMBoling@groveatlantic.com>

Foreign Rights: Amy Hundley <ahundley@groveatlantic.com>

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