Greenville Reporter

Washington, D.C. –  On May 23, Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) published an Op-Ed in the  Washington Examiner detailing the fentanyl epidemic’s origins, its current grip on America, and feasible solutions. You can read the full Op-Ed in the Washington Examiner here or in its entirety below.

America’s Deadliest Drug Epidemic: Fentanyl

Every day, a family learns the devastating news that a loved one has fallen victim to America’s deadliest drug epidemic: fentanyl. Perhaps it’s a mother awoken in the middle of the night to a dreaded phone call, or a father who comes home and must administer Narcan.

 As the only practicing surgeon in Congress, I know that the roots of this epidemic did not appear overnight. Over thirty years ago, the “War on Pain” commenced due to the overprescribing of opioids.

Overprescribing reached a climax in 2012 when health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers, enough for every American adult to have a bottle in their pocket. By 2016, we witnessed in horror the most opioid overdose fatalities on record -with 42,000 Americans tragically taken by this crisis. 

The very next year the Trump Administration moved to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. While overprescribing opioids has drastically dropped since then, saving many lives, the Biden Administration opened the floodgates for an even deadlier drug – illicit fentanyl – to fill this void.

According to CDC data, fentanyl-related overdoses is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49. It’s taken more lives than the number of U.S. military personnel killed during the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars combined. 

Mexican cartels capitalized on the absence of prescribed narcotics and began filling the void with highly potent and cheap fentanyl. Chinese labs produce dangerous fentanyl precursors, sending them to Mexican drug cartels.  In Mexico, cartels manufacture fentanyl and smuggle it across our porous southern border, where it kills Americans every day.

A mere 2 milligrams of fentanyl constitutes a lethal dose. Just last year, the DEA seized more than 400 MILLION doses, enough to kill every single American several times over. And that’s just the fentanyl that’s been seized. We know more has gotten through as the price of fentanyl has dropped 50% on the street over the last few years. 

In North Carolina, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who has not been directly or indirectly affected by the fentanyl crisis. The most terrifying aspect of fentanyl’s grip on the country is that it does not have a specific target audience. Its victims are taken regardless of race, class, gender, age, or geographic location. Anyone can be a victim.

Knowing how widespread this epidemic has become, this administration’s unqualified dereliction of duty has fostered fentanyl’s explosion onto the American citizenry as it rains down heartache and destruction.

What can we do? We need to write a prescription that treats this disease at its roots.

First, we must address mental health and substance abuse. Among the millions of people who abuse opioids, 64% struggle with a mental illness, and 27% suffer from a serious mental illness. Further, more must be done to get those with an addiction into treatment.

Second, we must provide better support for law enforcement. Police officers, federal agents, and especially CBP officers are integral in catching fentanyl. Movements like “Defund the Police” not only impact law enforcement agencies’ recruitment abilities, but they hamper our officers from keeping us safe from criminals. 

Third, and most importantly, the Biden Administration must secure the border and take on the cartels and China. It is past-time President Biden restored border policies that were effective, such as the Remain in Mexico policy. The Chinese Communist Party – without the explicit declaration of war – stands complicit with the death of thousands of Americans. We must degrade the ability of financers, manufacturers, and distributors to flood the US with illicit fentanyl. Until President Biden stops his dereliction of duty, we cannot hope to end this heart wrenching epidemic.

We must take action to end the agonizing late-night calls that forever changes a parent’s life. No parent should ever bury their child from an overdose. Washington knows what needs to be done - it’s time to take common sense steps toward solving this horrific crisis.

Original source can be found here.