Fentanyl Is Smuggled for U.S. Citizens By U.S. Citizens, Not Asylum Seekers

ConclusionBorder enforcement will not stop fentanyl smuggling. Border Patrol ' s experience with marijuana smuggling may provide even clearer evidence for this fact. Marijuana is the bulkiest and easiest-to-detect drug, which is why it was largely trafficked between ports of entry. Despite doubling the Border Patrol and building a border fence in the 2000s in part to combat the trade, the only thing that actually reduced marijuana smugglingwas U.S. states legalizing marijuana. It is absurd to believe that interdiction will be more effective against a drug that is orders of magnitude more difficult to detect.The DEA plainly stated in 2020 that fentanyl “will likely continue to contribute to high numbers of drug overdose deaths in the United States” even with the ban on asylum and travel restrictions. But ending asylum or banning travel has been worse than useless. These policies are both directly and indirectly counterproductive: first directl y by incentivizing more fentanyl smuggling and then indirectly by distracting from the true causes of the crisis.Mycolleagueshave been warning formany years that doubling down on these failed prohibition policies will lead to even worse outcomes, and unfortunately, time has repeatedly proven them correct. The only appropriate response to the opioid epidemic istreatment of addiction. But for this to be possible, the government must adopt policies that facilitate treatment andreduce the harms from addiction —most importantly deaths. ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs