Kerby Anderson

The synthetic drug, fentanyl, is responsible for as many as 100,000 overdose deaths. This is just one more reason why we need better border security.

Fentanyl is produced mostly in China and then flown into Mexico. But there is now significant evidence that China is providing the chemicals to criminal drug networks in Mexico who then mass produce them as prescription pills. And drug cartels also lace the opioid into other drugs like heroin or methamphetamine.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Putting fentanyl into other drugs increases the possibility that a user might die. Some of the pills look exactly like OxyContin, so it is quite likely that users are unaware of the presence of fentanyl.

The head of US drug enforcement explained that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for men ages 18 to 45. In fact, there are more overdose deaths than car accidents and shootings.

Imagine if a foreign enemy wanted to weaponize fentanyl. Some commentators have suggested this. China is sending chemicals to drug cartels that lace those drugs with the manufactured fentanyl. If you wanted to addict people to a drug, you probably wouldn’t want to kill them. You would want to hook them on the drug. That isn’t what is happening right now. Fentanyl is killing lots of Americans.

Border security is national security. When we have porous borders, drugs, criminals, traffickers, and terrorists can enter our country. Proponents of open borders argue we should be a welcoming country. And more than a million people come to this country legally every year. But we don’t need to welcome people who intend us harm, especially when there have been so many fentanyl deaths.