Kerby Anderson

One commentator has suggested that the November election would be a “fentanyl election.” That term might be confusing, so let me unpack its meaning. Voters in these midterm elections are concerned about many issues ranging from inflation to crime. But one of the principal concerns is the lack of border security.

Drugs are on the minds of Americans, especially fentanyl. It’s a synthetic opioid that is supposedly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and useful in treating such things as the pain of cancer. It is also being manufactured in Mexico by the cartels that are more powerful than the mafia ever was.

Here’s the issue: fentanyl is being smuggled across the border in record numbers. And fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans between ages 18 and 45. It is so dangerous that just a few milligrams (the equivalent of a few grains of sand) can kill you.

Senator Tom Cotton reminds us that authorities seized 2.5 billion deadly doses of fentanyl at our border last year. He said that each drug death and severe case of addiction “is like a bomb going off in a community. Families are shattered, children are orphaned, promising young Americans are psychologically destroyed, and neighborhoods physically deteriorate.”

Representative Jodey Arrington warns that the crisis at our border has contributed to a “nationwide spike” in fentanyl overdoses. He observed that “If you had al Qaeda or ISIS or some terrorist group that had control of our border and was pushing this poison into our communities and killing our families and our children and our citizens, I guarantee you that people would see this differently.”

Perhaps the best argument for increased border security is to stem the flow of this lethal drug into our communities.