Document Type
Student Note
Abstract
The opioid crisis is a significant public health emergency, intensified by the rise of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Lawmakers have described fentanyl as “terroristic in nature” due to its often-fatal properties. According to the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”), an estimated 107,543 people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2023. As fentanyl use has surged, it has increasingly shaped public health policy through harm reduction initiatives, expanded addiction treatment resources, and legislative reforms aimed at curbing overdose deaths. Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) now plays a dual role in this evolving crisis. While AI technologies offer valuable tools for overdose prevention, prescription monitoring, and drug enforcement, they have also been weaponized by illicit manufacturers to optimize fentanyl production and distribution. This potential for misuse complicates regulatory oversight and challenges traditional notions of liability. This Note examines how AI both mitigates and magnifies the opioid crisis, arguing that the same innovations capable of saving lives can also cause harm when exploited. This Note further highlights the difficulty in placing liability for the negative consequences arising from the misuse of AI-assisted technologies in drug synthesis. It calls for enhanced regulatory frameworks, more transparent legal accountability for AI developers and illicit manufacturers, and stronger international cooperation to prevent AI from further intensifying the already devastating fentanyl epidemic.
Recommended Citation
Abby O'Hern,
Are AI-Assisted Drug Technologies Addressing or Aggravating the Opioid Crisis in the United States?,
128
W. Va. L. Rev.
265
(2025).
Available at:
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvlr/vol128/iss1/9