From “Meth Crisis” to “Opioid Crisis” to “Fentanyl and Meth Crisis” to…

Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that, just as overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers are showing signs of leveling off, officials worry that the surge in methamphetamine-related deaths is joining the surge in fentanyl-related deaths to fuel the total drug overdose rate. 

There were 1887 meth-related deaths reported in 2011. By 2017 more than 10,000 deaths were reported related to meth and other chemically-similar psychostimulants.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has seen a 118 percent increase in meth seizures by law enforcement between 2010 and 2017. The meth is cheap and abundant and flooding the US mainly from Mexico, according to the agency. The Mexican cartels have taken up the meth trade to compete with cocaine coming up from South America. 

The Journal article quotes a spokesman from the Phoenix office of the DEA as saying the meth is smuggled through tunnels, through ports of entry, and between ports of entry. 

As I wrote here, the meth trade became the domain of the Mexican cartels after the US cracked down on homegrown meth labs and made Sudafed (a decongestant converted to meth in those labs) more difficult to obtain. 

I pointed out elsewhere that waging a war on drugs is like playing a game of “Whac-a-mole.” The war should be drawn to a close and attention should turn to ameliorating the death and other harms that prohibition has wrought. 

In 2005 Congress acted to address the “Meth Crisis.” Shortly thereafter it turned its attention to the “Opioid Crisis.” Now it is dealing with a fentanyl crisis and a replay of the meth crisis. How many more will die or suffer needlessly before lawmakers wise up?