Fentanyl has pretty much replaced heroin throughout New England, according to a New York Times report published Sunday.

That's a deadly development, since fentanyl is many times stronger than heroin -- so much that people who are addicted commonly underestimate its strength, increasing their chance of overdose. Moreover, people who overdose on fentanyl are less likely to be saved with the overdose reversal drug naloxone, or can be saved only through multiple doses.



Those factors for blamed for the surge in overdoses during the last two years in states including Pennsylvania, where coroners say the bodies of fatal overdose victims almost always contain fentanyl, which is a manmade opioid.





The New York Times article focused on New Hampshire, which leads the nation in overdoses per capita. Pennsylvania is also near the top of the list, ranking fourth in overdoses per capita.



As the Times noted, New Hampshire's status as an overdose capital initially seems "jarring," given that it has the nation's highest per capita income rate and low rates of unemployment and crime.



But it's also close to Massachusetts, which the Times said is a center of drug distribution networks serving the New England states. Moreover, New Hampshire, which has no income or sales tax, lags behind almost all other states for publicly-funded drug treatment.



In light of that, some fire stations have established "safe stations" for the purpose of helping people get into treatment.



According to the Times, 53 percent of New Hampshire adults said in a poll that drugs were the biggest problems facing the state, well ahead of jobs and the economy. It was the first time in the poll's history that a majority of state residents named a single issue as the most important one.



