Cartoonist and author Scott Adams addressed the fentanyl crisis in the United States in a Sept. 26 Twitter thread, writing current approaches are not working to mitigate the problem.
“People believe demand can be reduced. But no one has ever seen that approach succeed anywhere. We only believe someone else knows how to reduce demand. As long as we hallucinate a demand solution exists, there will be no energy to look for a real fix,” Adams, creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip, stated on Twitter.
He argued that trying to reduce demand in the U.S. or intercept more fentanyl at the border are both ineffective approaches. Since U.S. drug dealers have not started buying precursors from China, they would not be likely to do so if the supply to Mexico were cut off, according to Adams.
“... People believe cutting the Fentanyl precursor flow from China/India to the Mexican cartels will not help because Americans would just cook it up in their own garages. But if that were practical, it would be happening already. The economics would guarantee it,” Adams said in the Twitter thread.
“... People believe addicts who buy Fentanyl know their risks," Adams stated on Twitter. "That is only true for the ones who know what they are buying.
"The OD epidemic is driven by buyers who think they are getting one kind of street drug but it is laced with Fentanyl," Adam stated in his 11-point Twitter posts. "Russian roulette. ... People believe a border wall will help stop Fentanyl flows. The real impact is probably 5% at best. Fentanyl is so profitable for the cartels, and the shipping size so small, intercepting 90% at the border would barely put a dent in final supply. They would just make more. ... People don't want to start a war with Mexico or China. They don't realize we are already in a war, and losing badly. The choice is between self-defense and surrender, not peace or war.”
Adams suggested one possible way to test if legalizing drugs might cut down on the flow of illegal drugs coming into the country but in the same post, stated the approach wouldn't be attempted.
"People believe legalizing relatively safer drugs and regulating their quality would help. Some say it would not," Adams wrote. "We could test it in one zip code and find out for sure. But we won't. Our governments are not that capable."
Ultimately, Adams didn't suggest one single way to combat the opioid and fentanyl crisis in the U.S.
"Honestly, I see no hope of erasing these illusions about Fentanyl. The illusions are too deep," he wrote. "Compare to nuclear power that has been a no-brainer decision for decades and it still doesn't get done because of stubborn illusions about it.
"Most of our biggest problems are driven by persistent public illusions and not much else."
Fentanyl is cheap to produce and high in potency. Drug traffickers mix it in with other drugs, according to a release by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Agents have found it in basically every street drug and in counterfeit prescription pills. Mexican cartels purchase the raw chemicals from China, produce fentanyl, and mix it in with other drugs. As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal.
In January, investigative journalist Sara Carter reported on a Houston-area Texas Department of Public Safety facility “reportedly holding $10 million in narcotic contraband” seized from illegal immigrants and Mexican drug trafficking cartels, Fox News reported. The agent told her they knew the precursors were coming from China into Mexico.
Approximately 107,622 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2021, representing a 15% increase from 2020, according to the CDC.
China moved to regulate fentanyl and two of its precursors in 2019, but remains the top supplier of fentanyl in the U.S., although most of it is supplied indirectly, according to the Brookings Institute. China has refused to accept co-responsibility with Mexico for the fentanyl epidemic.
China leads the world in chemical exports, with between 160,000 and 400,000 chemical manufacturers and distributors located in the country, many of whom operate illegally, according to the Brookings Institute.
