Illegal Drug Use Hits Record High

We have repeatedly covered the steady stream of bad headlines about the increasing number of deaths from overdoses in the United States. The lion’s share of these fatal events these days involve fentanyl, leading us to point the finger of blame at the crisis on our southern border and the drug cartels that have been feeding that pipeline with enough of the deadly drug to literally kill everyone in the country. That’s certainly true and we shouldn’t lose sight of the issue. There is another part to that equation beneath the surface. We wouldn’t be seeing all of these deaths if there wasn’t a market for powerful illegal drugs in America. There certainly is and it’s growing. In fact, the number of people who use drugs and become addicted is at an all time high. Seth Leibsohn has written a chilling opinion piece. at the Washington Times, we learn that 14.3% of America’s adult population now regularly uses illegal and dangerous drugs.

An inhumane mix of carelessness, profit, and lawlessness brought us back to 1979 levels. Illegal and dangerous drug usage began to rise again. Deaths followed. Drug poisoning deaths in this country amounted just to 5,000 annually in 1992 when we had reached the lowest point in drug use. Today they number more than 106,000.

So, while our country’s population grew by just under one-third since 1992, drug poisoning deaths increased by over 2,000%. The Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington is a good example of this scale. The wall contains approximately 58,000 names, and it took 16 year to accumulate those souls. We are almost doubling our death rate (or the need to build two walls) each year. This sad wall has been around for 16 years.

Seth reminds that the last record for drug use was made in 1979. It was the trailing edge. “summer of love” It seemed that everyone was getting higher. But the country’s response, while a bit late in arriving, was effective. The government started to crack down on dealers in what liberals call the “theatrical” today. “war on drugs.” New and innovative treatment programs were simultaneously launched. Drug dealers were also held for long periods in prison.

It seemed that there was a general consensus. Addiction to drugs was a problem and it was best to seek treatment. Dealers were people who made a profit from the suffering and death others. The government and the public needed to act.

We have now exceeded the drug abuse levels of the seventies yet again, but our response has been very different. Municipal governments are starting to emerge. “safe injection sites” People are encouraged to make use of these drugs in their cities. Assisting customers in open-air drug markets is what police will do “patients” They are not criminals. The police do not view drug abuse as criminal activity.

While we still pretend to treat the dealers as serious criminals, others still end up in jail. Our government also leaves the southern border open almost completely, knowing full well the fact that the country continues to be flooded with opioids and fentanyl from China every day. With all of that in mind, should we really be shocked that we’re setting records for people dying in the quest to get high? These are “records” Nobody wanted to see the world broken. Yet, here we are.