The Fentanyl crisis is getting little attention from politicians running for office

(Photo Credit: Drug Enforcement Agency. Fact Sheet.)

Today, in election season, one major issue gets far less attention than many issues of far lesser importance. The fentanyl epidemic.

Recently the nation recognized National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day but it mostly did not crack the front pages of newspapers nor was it the lead story on the nightly news.   

Contending with the extraordinary flow of illegal migration, primarily through our southern border, the nationwide distribution of fentanyl is the most vexing part of that issue. 

That is where the fentanyl issue becomes divisive along political party lines because of differing views of the mass illegal migration. This need not be the case.  

We need to see the devastating effects of the drug for what they are – and plan accordingly.

In the most recent year of available statistics, 2022, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, deaths by overdose in the U.S. of Fentanyl topped 107,000. This figure alone is more than alarming. To put in perspective, this number is almost double the number of combat deaths for the entirety of the Vietnam War.

Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug ever introduced to our streets. Its components are created by criminal gangs in China, likely with the active assistance of the government of China, and are transported through Mexico. It is then assembled by drug cartels and prepared for delivery into the streets of America and taken across the U.S. southern border. 

Sales of the drug are affecting people in various socio-economic groups and make no distinctions as to race, gender or location across the nation.

Assigning the term “overdose” to the drug is almost unnecessary since even a small particle of it can be lethal. In fact “fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin,” according to the U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention.  It is also laced into other drugs, which is then sometimes unwittingly consumed, often leading to near-instant death. 

Illegal migrants or drug cartel operatives, primarily from Mexico or Central America, carry the drugs as payment for assistance in getting into the United States. While most illegal immigrants are not involved in the drug trade otherwise, enough of them can be used by the drug cartels through all manner of coercion.

While illegal migration brings with it massive effects on social programs, and other crimes, the increase in drug-related deaths has taken a horrendous toll on mostly young people. 

Stopping mass illegal migration, giving law enforcement the tools to address the trafficking of the drug, and improving first responder’s abilities to treat overdoses must become a significant priority. 

Law enforcement and first responders must be trained as to how to spot overdoses and have plans to react quickly as previously mentioned.

This should be a non-partisan issue and should be constantly brought to the front in Congressional hearings, appropriate budgeting committees for law enforcement, and discussed in election races at all levels, local, state and federal.

Despite efforts by state and federal agencies to attack this issue, it needs to become a central focus at every stage of the epidemic.

China must be held accountable for the flow of precursors sent to North America. China’s criminal gangs are working with China’s government and there must be a concerted effort by making it economically and diplomatically painful for this relationship to continue.

Information campaigns must become more widespread nationally as to the effects of the drug and more focused on the prospect of death through its use.

Illegal border crossing must be brought down substantially. There is no dispute as to this being the primary source of the drug and we cannot put our heads in the sand.

We as a nation cannot allow this issue to be overtaken by lesser issues or ignored.

Citizens must implore their elected officials, including candidates for public office, at all levels to move it to the front no matter which party is in power or contending for office. 

The time for action is long since passed and we must focus on this drug scourge now as the next-best time to act.

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James Hutton is a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army. Follow him on X @jehutton.