Along with his historic successes on the economy and border security, Donald Trump’s first term in the White House also delivered positive results on the opioid epidemic that had been ravaging American communities for decades. Trump’s victory on November 5 brings renewed hope for continued progress after four years of skyrocketing deaths under the Biden-Harris administration.
The country saw less than 50,000 opioid deaths during each of Trump’s first three years in office before an uptick to 69,000 deaths in 2020 driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. But after Biden took office and the pandemic subsided, the death toll kept climbing – above 80,000 in 2021 to a record 107,000 in 2022. While data is still being compiled for 2023, deaths are expected to have remained above 100,000.
Much of this increase has been driven by the proliferation of fentanyl and “fentanyl analogs,” or chemically modified versions of fentanyl designed to be similar in structure but with slight changes that can alter potency, duration, and effects. Many fentanyl analogs are manufactured outside the United States and mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, and counterfeit pills, sometimes without users’ knowledge.
Dr. Otto von Muhlfeld, a former police psychologist who advised German Interior Minister Friedrich Zimmerman on counter-narcotics policies, told me that fentanyl and fentanyl analog deaths are effectively a poisoning because consumers “expected a painkiller or a familiar narcotic, not a deadly or hyper-addictive substance.”
One such case was that of Zachary Cullen, a college student from Pennsylvania who died after he was sold a fentanyl-laced dose of cocaine. Zachary’s mother, Deb Cullen, testified before Congress that her son was “murdered,” urging lawmakers to approach the fentanyl epidemic with the same determination they brought to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We urge you to spread the word about illicit fentanyl. It is urgent and must be done immediately, as we need to slow the rate at which families are losing their loved ones,” she said. “I struggle to understand why our government is not making it a priority to stop the loss of so many lives.”
More than 4 in 10 Americans now know someone who has died from a drug overdose, according to a RAND Corporation study. Families Against Fentanyl, a private organization committed to combating the epidemic, estimates that this opioid has been a leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 since 2019.
While the Biden administration made nominal efforts at reducing opioid deaths, the root cause of the dramatic surge in fentanyl into American communities – the border crisis – has remained glaringly unresolved for four years. Unsurprisingly, researchers in North Carolina have linked increased law enforcement efforts on the border to a decline in overdose deaths.
In a video released last year, Trump promised that he would “not rest until we have ended the drug addiction crisis.” His policy platform includes measures to force China to clamp down on the production of fentanyl precursors, permanently designating fentanyl as a federally controlled substance, deploying federal law enforcement to take down distributors inside the United States, and imposing “a full naval embargo on the drug cartels.”
One of the Trump administration’s biggest challenges will be stamping out fentanyl analogs, which are increasingly popular.
As he did during his first term, Trump will look to work with Congress to provide law enforcement with new tools to address emerging threats. In 2018 Trump signed the SUPPORT Act, the largest ever investment in combatting the opioid epidemic. In total, Trump secured more than $6 billion in funding for the crisis.
One good place to start in Trump’s second term could be the HALT Fentanyl Act, which Republican Representatives Bob Latta of Ohio and Morgan Griffith of Virginia recently introduced. As the pair explained, that bill will help address the fentanyl crisis by “permanently labeling fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I narcotics.” The bill also establishes a 10-year minimum prison term for offenses involving 100 grams of fentanyl analogs.
After the HALT Act passed the House with broad bipartisan support, it stalled in the Senate, but could see renewed interest with a GOP majority taking power next January.
Professor Marcus Cabiallavetta, a retired Swiss brain surgeon who participated in counternarcotics campaigns, stressed to me that “failing to take decisive action” now could have disastrous long-term consequences for an entire generation of Americans. Even setting a 100-gram threshold for a long prison term could be too lenient, he said, since “only two milligrams can kill someone.”
Dr. von Muhlfeld added that the HALT Act is an effective deterrent by raising awareness about the severe consequences of fentanyl trafficking and dealing. “In this fight, tough policies cannot be optional; they must be a rule,” he said.
Donald Trump has built his political brand around getting tough on the biggest problems facing the American people. For the millions of Americans dealing with the scourge of the opioid epidemic, his return to the White House cannot come soon enough.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
In the ’80s, an average of about 3000 died yearly of overdoses. Now, athletes oppose racism, but apparently not drugs.
Closing the border. Getting ICE and Border Control agents (with FULL cooperation from ALL LEOs) back to patrolling and arresting and deporting rather than processing fake asylum paperwork. Blow up the labs!! Criminalizing all drugs again. We don’t have enough jails, so not sure what to do about that. Buy more ankle monitors? I believe a major cause of homelessness is drugs, we can’t just keep throwing money at the issue since that clearly is NOT working.
President Trump’s re-election will place new focus on, and control over, our southern border, where fentanyl has flowed, unchecked by the Biden Administration, to the extreme detriment of all Americans and their families. Soon, the insidious, irresponsible Biden Administration will be just a filthy stain on the history of our republic… but we must now focus on recovery, and helping millions of Americans recover from the irresponsibility and lawlessness of the wayward, illegitimate, “democrat” party.
The government used to spray paraquat on pot fields in the 80s to discourage use so it would not surprise me if it encouraged fentanyl contamination for the same reasons… and getting a financial kickback for it. Cartels buy Mexican politicians… think DC is any less greedy?
I think if we simply allowed our police to do their job and not tie their hands they could stop the problem. It’s time to take our country back and make America a safe place to live for everybody. It’s was our country and it could be again but we – we have to want it. It makes no difference who’s in the WH, this is our responsibility.
Honestly, combating the “opioid crisis” with law enforcement and other means prohibiting border fentanyl is immensely necessary.
But, legal action against opioids in general is harmful.
4 decades ago I was in a Major automobile accident: I was in a VW Bug broadsided by a truck. After impact truck pushed my vehicle over sidewalk, across four lanes of the highway, over another sidewalk, over another lane, over another sidewalk, and into a parking lot. Needless to say, I suffered massive physical injuries. I was “put back together“ but it was done a little crooked.
I have been in pain for 40 years. I have never not been in pain for 40 years. I am also taking a low level “opioid“ (hydrocodone), the quantity of which has not changed over the past 40 years. I have temporarily increased it for a short period (under 1 month) after I have replacement surgeries, etc. But I always go back to the same amount. I have taken for 40 years. I am not increasing my pain relief medication, but I NEED this pain relief medication.
I have tried other medications, even fentanyl patches, to no avail. None of the other modes of pain relief come close to what I have been taking for 40 years. (Honestly fentanyl patches equals zero relief for me).
I NEED legislators to understand that there are people like me that require this medication just to survive. I have not changed the quantity of my medication for 40 years. I know a lot of people who are given pain medication abuse it, and increase it. But there are still those of us that do not and that need it. Pushing further legislation to limit the access to pain relief is harmful, very, very harmful to me.
We hear all about the supply and the suppliers but little about the demand side of it. In my mind, much like immigration issues. Let’s hear more about people employing these men and women who are doing the jobs Americans won’t do. Right. For five bucks an hour. How do I hate that. Especially coming from commentator types who have never had what a lot of think of as real jobs.