Written by: Travis Thompson, LMFT, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
On September 14th, 1986, former First Lady Nancy Reagan spoke to the American public about the dangers of drugs and gave her solution to this grave issue: "Just Say No." Possibly well-intentioned, but severely misguided, her call to action was taken on by the American public and the international stage at large. For his part, former president Richard Nixon spearheaded the "War on Drugs," banning and criminalizing nearly all aspects of drug use and possession, save for a few individuals from Nicaragua. This imposition of widespread and severe criminalization had no other possible outcome but to drastically shift the landscape of drug use and the criminal justice system. Sometime later and without seeing enough progress, possibly due to the hoped-for lack of results in the American public's use of illegal drugs, the year 1994 hosted both the Three-Strikes Law and former president Bill Clinton's Crime Bill. Together, these purely punitive measures for dealing with drug use and addiction increased both incarceration and the lack of effective therapeutic intervention significantly. The story of the War on Drugs can most significantly be told not by the hard-headed attempts to litigate drug use into the ground, but by the rates of incarceration that the United States holds compared to the rest of the world, as well as how many of those transient jail stays include drug use as a factor. As of 2021, the US dominates the world stage in incarceration per capita of over 6% of its population with drug use continuing to skyrocket.
What is Fentanyl?
Whether it is produced legally by a pharmaceutical company as a pain reliever for end-stage cancer patients, or produced and shipped illegally from Mexico and China, Fentanyl is an opioid with the most potent dosage of any pain reliever. When most Americans think of pain relievers, we think of over-the-counter pills we take for headaches. Fentanyl is in the category of opioids that are found mostly pharmaceutically. Within this more concentrated family of opioids, lie medications like Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet, Codeine, and Morphine. Initially considered harmless, pain medications were handed out by major pharmaceutical companies to local doctors as openly as candies or coupons. With incentives given to pharmaceutical representatives and doctors alike, pain medication became nearly a cure-all for any time of suggested discomfort. This arrangement became so lucrative, that "pill mills" popped up to solely distribute as much pain medication as possible.
However, these medications were far from harmless. In fact, the flippant distribution of them led to lawsuits, settlements, and jail time for those involved, with some litigation continuing without a foreseen end date.
A crack-down on pharmaceutical companies and doctors took place, creating a void of pain medication with a plethora of addicted individuals without their drug of choice. Then, Heroin makes a surge to fill the need for opioids. To be clear, Heroin has been a concern for decades; however, the previously stated supply chain issue allowed for Heroin to step in as a more significant player. Heroin is an illegal substance that mimics the effects of legal pain relievers but to a more significant degree.
Unfortunately, as addiction takes its toll, a higher dosage of even Heroin no longer has the same effect as tolerance builds over time. To put it bluntly, Heroin just does not do it for you anymore. Then, comes the reaper himself, Fentanyl. Even more powerful than its predecessor, this drug skyrockets immediate opioid intake to a degree not otherwise possible.
What Does it do?
Simply put, Fentanyl slows the body and brain down to a degree that all functions cease to work if too much is ingested. This shutdown of the body is what is called an overdose, or when intake is higher than what the body can tolerate. Delaying physical and neurological responses, an overdose can push the brain to the point where it turns itself off. An overdose can easily kill someone without swift intervention, with little humanity remaining. Fentanyl is so powerful, that an adult male can overdose and die from ingesting only 3 milligrams. For reference, that is nearly the weight of a grain of sand.
This all might seem frightening enough to the typical person that they would be deterred from ever touching it. Some may feel a sense of anxiety about how easily they could come into contact with it. Sadly, this apprehension is not something a long-term addict shares. When in the throughs of addiction, substances are emotional safety. This drive for emotional safety is so instinctively guarded and sought out, that physical safety can be risked without much thought. If emotional safety is so needed but feels so distant without an illegal substance, then addicts will go to any lengths to get it.
In short, drugs, and even Fentanyl can make people feel safe.
How are People Dying?
Far from regulated and audited, the drug trade and black market of substances is a crapshoot in what is being bought and used by the typical drug buyer. There are typically two types of individuals that die from a drug overdose: those that know there could be fentanyl in their opioids, and those that do not. Fentanyl can be put in a substance like Heroin as a way to increase its effects. However, Fentanyl can be put in other substances like Cocaine or Xanax without the user knowing it is present, thus leading to an overdose far exceeding a tolerance level. This is more common than may be immediately realized. Without exploiting any individual's tragic death, it is not hard to find popular celebrities and musicians that died from an unexpected dose of Fentanyl. It is there in front of us, but for some reason, we do not see it.
The Facts
Many in the US would describe COVID and its residual effects as something that forever changed their lives. Many of us were unsure how much we could be affected, as well as what the possible death toll would be from an impending pandemic. Our worlds are forever skewed into an awareness of possible transmission and fear for others. Under the cover of night, and the crossfire of vaccines, passports, and bipartisan moral outrage, Fentanyl became the number one cause of death for Americans ages 18-45, with a significant impact on ages 45 and older as well. Whether ingested intentionally or as a result of ingestion from another substance, it is clear that this drug has a large portion of America ever within its grasp.
It should be incredibly clear at this point that if there is a true War on Drugs, the drugs have one, and we as an American people have lost for generations. Demanding change through punishment and life-long degradation has not changed anything related to drug use, other than frequency and lengths of stay in prison. Recovery and healing do not exist through jail time and probation. Something else is needed.
What we can do
A tempting solution to this problem is to try anything else, whether that be decriminalization, drug maintenance, or something else entirely. Surely, we cannot do more harm than what has already been done? The heart of any caring person breaks watching individuals and communities slip away, sometimes taken suddenly. What can the individual do in the face of this growing crisis? Reading this is the first step; it is learning about the problem. Simply acknowledging that drugs like Fentanyl are ravaging the population takes some of its power away. If addiction is an ailment of isolation, then opening to conversation allows for a way out. Next is demanding conversation, research, and change within therapeutic and governmental entities. Not every government official wants to take on drug addiction, but every government official can appreciate saving money. That can be done through rehabilitation rather than just incarceration. Pilot programs have started around the US to work with individuals convicted of a crime to address their substance abuse issues while they serve sentences.
We all know that this cycle in America is not working. It is time that we advocated for effective change to anyone who will listen. You can find more information about these trends through The Sentencing Project, Families Against Fentanyl, and The National Center on Addiction and Substance us at Colombia University.
Please feel free to contact me about discussion, intervention, or effective change at travisthompsoncounseling@hotmail.com
Travis Thompson, LMFT, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Travis Thompson, is a researcher, teacher, and therapist focused on healing the lives of those in addiction. With a drive to see effective, long-term change in his community, he has dedicated himself, his practice, and his doctoral work on both research, education, and implementation of recovery. He strives to further the mental health field towards a holistic and advanced understanding of what addiction truly is, where it comes from, and how we all can help.
Sources:
Families Against Fentanyl. (2021). Fentanyl: The state we're in. Families Against Fentanyl, 1-3.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance use at Columbia University. (2010). Behind bars II: Substance abuse and America's prison population. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509000.pdf
The Sentencing Project (2019). Trends in U.S. Corrections. World Prison Brief.
