Left in search of solace to fill the void brought on by a myriad of life-draining conditions, Americans continue to die of drug overdoses in record numbers.
The systemic issues afflicting the population demand sweeping reforms. But rather than working to uplift the disenfranchised, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have attempted to identify a scapegoat to relieve them of any culpability: fentanyl.
The synthetic opioid, which is significantly more potent than heroin, has proliferated in recent years. And at a U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing last week, lawmakers summoned a celebrity to describe the enemy in question.
“During the time I’ve been given to share my testimony here, I think it’s important to note before I start that in these five minutes, I’ll be speaking that somebody in the United States will die of a drug overdose, and it is almost a 72% chance that during those five minutes, it will be fentanyl-related,” said Jason DeFord, known by his stage name Jelly Roll, at the hearing.
The Grammy-nominated musician, a former drug dealer who also has struggled with addiction, wasn’t wrong about the dangers of fentanyl.
In the 12-month period ending in July, an estimated 112,000 Americans died of a drug overdose, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With the number marking a 2.3% increase over the year prior, synthetic opioids accounted for about 70% of all the deaths, the CDC reported.
Similar trends have been found in Maryland, where Baltimore residents comprise a large portion of the total overdose deaths. The state saw more than 2,500 overdose deaths over the same period, a 1.8% increase in deaths over the year prior.
The issue, however, is that the incessant focus on the substance — rather than the conditions that foster drug abuse — obscures the complex reality of addiction.
Overdose-related deaths spiked beginning in 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have pointed to the greater availability of fentanyl as the reason for the surge.
But what else happened around that time as a result of the pandemic?
Americans lost work, leading to more poverty and inequality. Crimes such as domestic violence increased, and those with mental health conditions suffered more than ever.
In addition, housing costs increased and access to social services decreased. As COVID-related aid expired, homelessness increased by 12%.
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Yes, fentanyl is a highly lethal and addictive drug that fueled the opioid crisis; there is no doubt about it.
However, the environments in which people lived during and after the height of the pandemic also took a turn for the worse, demonstrating the correlation between factors such as socioeconomic status and substance abuse.
As evidenced by a 2021 article by Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a professor at Harvard Medical School, social determinants of health can be major catalysts for addiction.
Grinspoon cited a 2019 study that found opioid overdoses are more concentrated in “economically disadvantaged zip codes,” which were described as areas with higher levels of poverty and unemployment. Low education levels were also a factor.
“Other studies have found poverty to be a risk factor for opioid overdoses, unemployment to be a risk factor for fatal heroin overdoses, and a low education level to be a risk factor for prescription overdose, and for overdose mortality,” Grinspoon continued. “Homelessness has been shown to be associated with overdoses as well, particularly among veterans. Terrible outcomes are associated with incarceration, particularly the period just after release from incarceration, when deaths from overdoses skyrocket. Systemic racism contributes to all of these issues.”
It’s clear that a plethora of factors contribute to the prevalence of overdoses. Addressing these, however, requires bipartisan cooperation on complex social issues on a level that has seemingly become impossible in today’s political climate.
As evidenced by the Senate hearings last week, the suits and ties on Capitol Hill would rather look at drug overdoses through the lens of crime — something both sides can get behind fighting.
The hearings were conducted around the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a “sanctions and anti-money laundering bill to help combat the country’s fentanyl crisis by targeting opioid traffickers devastating America’s communities,” according to the committee’s description of the bill.
The bill, which remains in committee, has bipartisan support.
But it falls overwhelmingly short in adequately addressing overdoses, failing to acknowledge that the same hardships that drive Americans to abuse drugs are the same factors that drive many to sell them.
For instance, many Americans have resorted to using and selling drugs to alleviate the pain and hardships associated with poverty and other traumas.
Some things aren’t going to change; the existence of powerful drugs and mental health diagnoses aren’t going away.
However, many of the root causes of drug addiction are symptoms of failing public policies — such as a lack of affordable housing, livable wages and accessible health care — and are avoidable.
Yet the conversation around the drugs themselves remains the loudest, with fentanyl being considered the No. 1 public health issue in the country, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll released last year.
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The concerns about the drug are also exacerbated by frequent misinformation.
For example, conservatives — who polls show are the most concerned with fentanyl —weaponize the opioid crisis to bolster their arguments against immigration, claiming immigrants are smuggling in fentanyl illegally.
Many have run with that talking point despite data showing that, even though the drug often comes through the southern border, it is overwhelmingly brought in by U.S. citizens through legal ports of entry.
Paired with misguided calls seeking additional investment in enforcement, many Americans are also exposed to propaganda from law enforcement.
Videos and news stories of police and other first responders dying from simply coming into contact with fentanyl have been viewed millions of times, stoking fears in the general population.
But it doesn’t take much effort to find studies that prove there is no evidence that secondhand exposure to the drug can kill someone.
So with the importance of truth in mind, what can be done to actually help addicts?
In reality, those struggling with substance use disorder need reforms to create a more comprehensive and affordable health care system as well as more accessible addiction treatment options.
Perhaps most importantly, they need to know that the government wants to help them, not increase their chances of being thrown in prison.
The latter comes through policies such as harm reduction, which includes decriminalization of drugs — a move that has proven to decrease incarceration rates without increasing overdose rates.
Baltimore, for example, already has a needle exchange program, which can help save lives by preventing the spread of HIV and other infections resulting from dirty needles.
The city has also explored de facto decriminalization of small quantities of drugs under former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, although prosecution has since resumed.
Studies have repeatedly shown how harm reduction strategies such as complete decriminalization and supervised injection sites have decreased incarceration rates and improved health outcomes.
And all of these help those with substance use disorder rather than reinforce the cycles of trauma that often serve as a pathway to addiction.
No one is denying the opioid crisis is serious. More than 100,000 Americans are dying each year.
But when policymakers are more focused on finding a common enemy than addressing the root causes of addiction, the nasty cycle will continue to thrive in perpetuity.
Addicts themselves, meanwhile, will be left to rot.
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