A bipartisan congressional commission recommends that the U.S. have a flexible, multipronged strategy, and Cabinet-level leadership in order to combat its overdose epidemic.
The scourge opioids will continue to grow as the deadly synthetic drugs like Fentanyl are finally eradicated. This is a shift public health experts anticipate in the months ahead.
“This is one our most pressing national security law enforcement and public safety challenges and we must do more to protect American lives,” said the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking in a 70-page report.
This report proposes a dynamic strategy. It would use diplomacy and law enforcement to stop the supply of synthetic opioids. It would provide support and treatment for those who have become addicted to opioids, creating pathways that could lead back into productive lives. It would also invest in research to understand the effects of addiction on the brain and develop treatment options for opioid abuse disorder.
For the past two years, the global coronavirus pandemic has been overshadowed by the American opioid epidemic. However, recent news that overdose fatalities have surpassed 100,000 in just one year caught the attention of the public. Politically, both the Obama administration and the Trump administrations supported federal legislation to address opioid addiction.
Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), a co-chair for the panel that produced this report, stated that he believes support is still there and that the issue appeals primarily to Biden’s pragmatic side. Trone stated, “The president has been very clear.” “These are two major problems in America: addiction, and mental health.” Trone was accompanied by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark).
For decades, the U.S. government has waged a losing war on drugs.
With the availability of fentanyl (a synthetic painkiller 80-100 times stronger than morphine), the stakes are higher. You can make illicit pills that look like prescribed painkillers and anti-anxiety medications. Most of the chemical raw materials are made in China. Mexico’s criminal networks control production and shipping to the U.S.
The federal anti-drug strategy has traditionally stressed law enforcement and long sentences in prison. This was viewed as counterproductive and biased based on racial bias. Drug use can be treated. Recent developments have highlighted the importance of treatment, with anti-addiction medications now available in large quantities alongside other strategies such as support groups.
Both law enforcement and treatment were endorsed in the report.
The report stated that “Through its work, it came to recognize the impossibility to reduce the availability of illegal synth opioids by focusing on supply alone.”
It stated that “real progress can only be achieved by pairing illicit synth opioid supply disruption with decreasing domestic U.S. demande for these drugs.”
Five “pillars” are recommended by the report for government action.
— To elevate the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as the nerve center of federal efforts in far-flung areas, and to restore Cabinet rank to its Director.
— Disrupting drug supply through more coordinated law enforcement actions
— Reduce the demand for illegal drugs by providing treatment and attempting to reduce the harm to addicts. The science-based “best practices” should be followed by treatment programs.
— Use diplomacy to get help from other countries to cut off supply of chemicals used by criminal networks to make fentanyl.
— Develop surveillance and data analysis tools that can detect new trends in illicit drug usage before they become major problems for society.
High-ranking executive branch officials from law enforcement, Homeland Security, Homeland Security, Treasury, Homeland Security and Homeland Security were non-voting members of the commission’s work. Biden officials claimed that he has already issued two executive order to combat fentanyl trafficking. They also called upon Congress to approve his $41 billion request for the overdose crisis.
The law enforcement response was stressed by Republican commission members in prepared statements. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) stated that “We must intensify our efforts to secure our border against illegal trafficking and target Mexican cartels flooding the streets with illicit opioids, and force China to crackdown upon their pharmaceutical industry supplying cartels using the base compounds used in the manufacture of synthetic opioids.”
Trone stated that it will require cooperation from both political parties. He stated, “We must take this toxic atmosphere Washington and move beyond it.” “Because 100,000 people, that’s husbands, sisters, mothers, fathers. We are better as a nation than that.”
