(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has instructed state agency heads to “look for ways to enhance all aspects of the state’s response to” the fentanyl crisis, including creating public service announcements, posting flyers in prominent locations around regulated facilities, training staff, or providing educational opportunities.
They’ve also been instructed to prepare “to outline statutory changes, budget priorities, and other initiatives that will enhance the state’s ability to interdict this dangerous drug, provide emergency overdose treatment, and expand substance abuse treatment programs” ahead of the 2023 legislative session and to coordinate their efforts with the Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council.
In a letter sent to agency heads, Abbott wrote, “It has become clear that fentanyl is impacting individuals with and without substance use disorders. Unfortunately, most individuals who suffer a fentanyl-related death probably did not know they were ingesting the deadly drug. Many of those who were poisoned unwittingly ingested deadly counterfeits that appeared to be prescription drugs, which were acquired outside of the healthcare system.”
His letter comes after 18 state attorneys general have called on President Joe Biden to label illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Montgomery County, Texas, Sheriff Rand Henderson has also called for it to be labeled as a WMD and Tulare County, California, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux argues fentanyl pills “coming across our southern border is absolutely one of the biggest issues we are facing as a country.”
Two milligrams of the synthetic opioid, the weight of a mosquito, is lethal. A teaspoon holds about 5,000 milligrams, enough to kill 2,500 people. One pound of fentanyl, or 453,592 milligrams, could kill 226,796 people.
In 2021, Texas reported an 89% increase in fentanyl-related deaths compared to 2020.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death of adults in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 45. In 2020, 77% of all teen overdose deaths involved fentanyl, according to a study published by JAMA.
Most drugs laced with fentanyl in the U.S. are being manufactured by cartel operatives in Mexico and made to look like legitimate prescription drug pills. They’re easier and less expensive to produce than other types of illicit drugs and can be easily carried in backpacks or hidden inside cargo brought across the border. More recently, “rainbow fentanyl” pills that look like candy are flooding the market and are intentionally being marketed to children.
“Simply put, fentanyl is a clandestine killer, and Texans are falling victim to the cartels that are producing it,” Abbott said. “Due to the threats posed by an open border and in the absence of federal action,” he launched Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, last March. Since then, Texas Department of Public Safety officials have seized more than 336 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
In July alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 2,100 pounds of illicit fentanyl. In fiscal 2021, CBP agents seized 11,200 pounds of fentanyl. So far in fiscal 2022, they’ve seized 10,600 pounds.
In both fiscal years so far, CBP agents have confiscated enough fentanyl to kill nearly 5 billion people.
The world’s population is currently 7.9 billion people, according to Worldometer.
While law enforcement officers’ efforts “are noteworthy and commendable,” Abbott argues they “alone cannot be expected to end this crisis.”
The most effective way is for Texas to declare the death penalty for all found in possession of this deadly substance. States do have a right to inflict lethal punishement for crimes against humanity. SOme states have no death penalty, just prison time that these days lasts about 10 minutes. Death by Fentanyl should be the proscription received as equal punishment for the death that they deal in. If you want to deal in Fentanyl you better stay out of Texas, just go to California and kill off the Liberal Democrats who welcome illegality and death into the USA with both hands, but not both tongues to taste it, just your children’s and insuspecting neighbors. Perhaps Hunter himself is an accident waiting for a happening, But Joe does not even suspect it could happen to one of his own, even if doled out by a fellow party criminal in need of getting rid of a potential stool pidgeon who could slip of the lip put them in prison. Joe’s own lip has been slipping quite often lately. If he suddenly dies in office the coverups will make the Kennedy thing look amateurish. Joe is a pawn, pawns often get sacrificed to protect the real King, or Godfather of the crime family.
I’ve long said, WE NEED TO WAGE ACTUAL war on the drug cartels, as they are a CLEAR AND PRESENT danger to the USA…
Yes the Cartels need to be stopped however I’m not holding out alot of hope because the USA has been “fighting” that losing battle since at least the 70’s and can’t seem to get ahead of it. The government sued the big pharma producers and received big stupid settlement monies. How much of those monies went to building much needed BRICK AND MORTAR TREATMENT FACILITIES? NONE! The problem will NEVER be solved because they truly don’t want it solved!
The “War” they have had though, wasn’t a REAL WAR.. Where we sent in TROOPS TO TAKE THEM and their factories out..
BUT i just thought. Since they keep saying, the pinhead of a needle worth of this poison, is enough to kill one man, and an ENTIRE PILL is enough to kill a few hundred.. HOWS about we take all those MILLIONS OF PILLS we’ve confiscated over the past few months, and POUR THEM INTO The Rio Grande..
That should stop the migrants lickidy split..