Pictured is 2 milligrams of fentanyl, which is a lethal dose for most people.

A new report from the state's auditor general uses statistics to both describe how the fentanyl crisis has hurt Pennsylvanians and to make recommendations on how to better combat the drug.

Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, is widely pointed to as the cause of nationwide increases in overdose deaths. The drug is a synthetic opioid that's frequently mixed into other addictive substances, such as methamphetamines or heroin, dramatically ramping up their strength and deadly nature.

Fentanyl contributed to a 65 percent increase in overdose deaths nationwide between 2015 and 2017, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

In Butler County, overdose deaths spiked in 2017 at 92 deaths, according to data compiled by OverdoseFreePA.

The new report, which Auditor General Eugene DePasquale published Wednesday, paints a picture of opioid problems that need to be resolved at multiple levels of government.

On the state level, the report calls for Pennsylvania to legalize and fund fentanyl test strips, which can be used to determine whether a drug contains fentanyl.

Donna Jenereski, director of Butler County's drug and alcohol program, said she thinks legalizing the strips here could help.

This is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Friday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.