Last year, over 11,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized by Border Patrol agents. That is enough fentanyl to kill every American, all 330 million of us, several times over. And that’s just the drugs we know about.
For the first time ever, in 2021, we lost over 100,000 lives to overdose deaths in a single year, driven by the surge of fentanyl coming across our southern border.
I am deeply concerned about the prevalence of fentanyl on our streets and in the hands of our youth. Criminals are preying on our communities, and the threat isn’t going away soon.
Fentanyl doesn’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you voted for Trump or for Biden. It is an equal opportunity destroyer. It is imperative that we look at this issue not as a partisan one but as a public health one, and the facts point to our southern border as the key entry point for this dangerous drug. Weak Border Patrol policies have consequences, and families are paying the price with empty seats at dinner tables.
As a member of Congress, I am calling on President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to put America’s health and safety first. That means permanently scheduling fentanyl analogues and securing our southern border. Fentanyl analogues are deadly, highly addictive substances that often take the form of common prescription medications to deceive buyers.
During my 35 years working as a pharmacist, there was hardly a day that went by where I was not asked by a concerned parent to identify an unknown pill they found in their child’s possession. For many years I consoled them, assuring these parents that the risks were minor. That changed after I went to the first funeral.
That is why I am a proud supporter of the HALT Fentanyl Act, which will permanently treat fentanyl as the dangerous substance that it is.
As a pharmacist, I am calling on community members to avoid taking any drug that does not come directly from a pharmacy, no matter how real it looks.
And if you are a parent reading this, or a friend of someone who might be at risk, I encourage you to go to your local pharmacy and purchase naloxone. It requires no prescription from a physician, and you could help save someone’s life.
Buddy Carter represents Georgia’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
