What Can Be Done to Lower the Deaths by Fentanyl Users?

Parents, community, state, and national leaders must act in unity to save the lives of adolescents and young adults from the fentanyl epidemic taking place in America. According to Jennie Taer of The Daily Signal, “Honduran nationals are running fentanyl trafficking rings in cities across the western U.S.

Law enforcement agencies have been investigating a cartel using “Honduran nationals to distribute bulk amounts of fentanyl … in the western United States,” according to Willamette Week, citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Fentanyl trafficking operations have been identified in the cities of Seattle, Denver, Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, the newspaper reported.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force, Group D-51, has been investigating cases involving the drug trafficking rings, according to Willamette Week. The task force includes the Department of Homeland Security as well as Oregon’s Tigard and Sherwood police departments and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

One drug trafficking organization “is suspected of importing controlled substances, including fentanyl pills, heroin, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States, and conspiring to distribute those drugs in Oregon and Washington,” the newspaper reported. Honduran nationals have dominated fentanyl dealing on the streets of San Francisco in recent years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in July. One of the biggest appeals the city offers is a shield from immigration authorities due to it sanctuary status.

“The reason is because, in San Francisco, it’s like you’re here in Honduras,” one Honduran drug dealer told the Chronicle. “The law, because they don’t deport, that’s the problem.”

“Many look for San Francisco because it’s a sanctuary city,” the drug dealer added. “You go to jail, and you come out.”

It is the responsibility of parents and leaders in cities, counties, states, and nations to keep the rising generation safe. One way that they can meet this responsibility is to vote for leaders who will be tough on crime and who will get rid of sanctuary cities. At this time, it seems to be Democrats who are lenient on law breakers and Republicans who work for tougher laws and better enforcement of current laws.

The Constitution of the United States was written for people who are law abiding and has no power over law breakers. Parents should teach their children to be law abiding citizens, and elected leaders should see that the laws are enforced as intended. By doing so, they can better control crime and decrease the possibility for teenagers and young adults to obtain fentanyl.