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Because the supply of virtually any drug could be contaminated with fentanyl, making it even more deadly, the US government advises young people to avoid experimenting at this time, due to the risk to their lives.
“Right now the drug supply in our country, the drug supply is totally poisoned by fentanyl, that is, it is in everything,” warned Mario Moreno, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Fentanyl is in the cocaine supply, in the heroin supply, in counterfeit pills, so it’s not a good time to start experimenting with drug use.”
Moreno gave an interview with this newspaper as part of International Overdose Awareness Day, which takes on special meaning in the US, due to the thousands of overdose deaths recorded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Although it is expected that by 2023 there will be a drop in overdose deaths, the figure is really minimal, since while more than 108,000 deaths were reported in 2022, for fiscal year 2023 – which ends in September – it is expected that they will be just over 105,000 deaths.
“It is a small, but significant decline, because the truth is that we have spent decades increasing death rates from overdose in this country,” Moreno acknowledged. “Especially from 2019 to 2021 there was exponential growth, so getting that rate to even out a bit and start to see a decline is extremely important.”
The official recognized that families play an important role in the fight against addictions, but it must be assumed that an addicted person is a sick person, for which reason stigmatization must be put aside.
“It is something very complicated to have a family member who suffers from an addiction, what we want to communicate as an administration is that it must be understood as a disease and that requires more than anything compassion, understanding and connections with public health,” he said.
A challenge: distribution on social networks
DEA administrator Anne Milgram acknowledged that social media has become a challenge in the fight against drugs, but did not comment on particular actions that Congress could take into consideration to strengthen strategies.
Questioned about it, Moreno assured that there is coordination with Congress and the technology companies themselves to improve actions against drug trafficking.
“We are focused on working with this private industry that manages these social media so that they take the necessary actions on their platforms to stop what is the sale of illegal substances,” Moreno said. “We are in constant dialogue with members of Congress.”
As part of its anti-addiction campaign, the Joe Biden administration is committing an additional $450 million.
Of those funds, $20.5 million is for 164 new Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grants.
In addition, a million dollars will be allocated to the Real Deal on Fentanyl campaign with the Ad Council, which focuses on guiding young people about the damage that drugs are causing.
Moreno recalled that this campaign has obtained 946.9 million impressions on social networks.