The fentanyl crisis that is enveloping our country is becoming more and more alarming every day. It is not hyperbole to suggest that it is now the number one criminal and public safety issue in the nation. To fight this, and win, communities across the U.S. need to adopt comprehensive and aggressive policies and approaches that are rooted in reality and experience. State legislatures and city councils must also avoid the temptation to use the crisis as a laboratory for social experimentation.
Colorado offers a tragic case in point. In 2019 the Colorado State Legislature passed a bill that reduced possession of four grams or less of any drug – including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and even fentanyl – to a misdemeanor. This meant that someone could have enough fentanyl on their person to kill a small town (2 milligrams – or about 4 grains of sand worth of fentanyl is a deadly dose), and face only a ticket at worst.
The results of this overly latitudinarian approach to the drug problem were as predictable as tragic. In the months following the passage of that bill, fentanyl flooded the streets of Colorado, and deaths from fentanyl overdose skyrocketed. In 2020, there were 540 fentanyl related deaths, 143% more than the year prior. In 2021, the numbers were even worse, with fentanyl deaths exceeding 800 – a full 260% higher than 2019.
The numbers don’t lie, and simply put an empirical stamp on what those who work on the streets every day to try and stop this scourge know instinctively; that the problem will not be solved, nor the deaths reduced, without seriously addressing the criminal element.
The scope of the fentanyl crisis is difficult to overstate. While its origins may have been in the abuse of legal, medically prescribed opioids, the current problem has evolved far past that. Illicit synthetic fentanyl, smuggled across the border and often disguised in pill form or mixed in with other drugs, is now flooding the streets and killing our young people. This highly addictive, but lethal, poison is a primary driver of many of the major social problems, including addiction, homelessness, violence, and property crime, that we are experiencing in our inner cities.
There has been a push to confront this growing crisis simply as a public health concern rather than a criminal matter. The focus of these efforts has been on treatment and so-called “harm reduction” strategies, ranging from increased availability of Narcan to such radical measures as “safe” injection sites. While some elements of this approach are necessary – in particular, the availability and training in the use of Narcan and access to treatment and rehabilitation for addicts – the more radical measures on that spectrum will only add fuel to the fire.
More importantly, a myopic focus on harm reduction to the exclusion of effective law enforcement will do nothing to stem the flow of this deadly drug onto the streets. Compassion for the addicted – the direct victims of this crime – and getting them treatment is a necessary component. But it is just as critical that those who would choose to make, smuggle, and distribute this poison are located, arrested, and put behind bars. When Colorado reduced the crime of possession of 4 grams or less to a misdemeanor, the organized fentanyl distribution networks adapted, and street dealers simply began carrying less than four grams at a time, knowing there was little consequence to getting caught.
There is also the question of how to get people into treatment. There are viable drug treatment programs in our corrections system. When addicts are walking around freely without any serious consequence for possessing dangerous substances, they may never get connected with the treatment they so desperately need. The awful power of this drug is such that often the only way to save someone’s life is to arrest them and get them off the streets, away from the clutches of their dealers and into a program.
The reality is that the world of fentanyl is more than just addiction. It is a sophisticated and multi-faceted criminal enterprise with its own organization, hierarchy, complex distribution systems and networks. It is a world of violence and power that reaches far beyond the scope of medicine, education, and social work to effectively confront.
Focusing solely on the treatment and harm-reduction side of the equation will ensure that we lose the battle. By failing to see and address the problem for what it also is – a criminal matter that requires robust law enforcement strategies to contain – we will effectively be conceding defeat and consigning ourselves, our children, and our society to a world where fentanyl deaths are simply accepted and managed. We can and must do better.
Matt Stoneberger is the President of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association.