To the Editor:
Re “America’s Deadly Fentanyl Delusion,” by David Herzberg (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 16):
As a parent who lost my son to fentanyl poisoning, I read this essay with deep concern and disappointment.
The article paints a one-dimensional picture of the fentanyl crisis and unfairly dismisses the current administration’s efforts to combat it. While no strategy is perfect, it is misleading to suggest that President Trump’s actions — building up the American military presence in the Caribbean and destroying boats said to be transporting drugs with airstrikes — are wholly misguided.
As someone who has lived through the devastating consequences of this epidemic, I believe that it is critical to acknowledge the broader scope of the crisis and the multifaceted approach required to address it.
Fentanyl is increasingly found in counterfeit pills disguised as legitimate medications, such as Adderall and Xanax, and even expensive cancer drugs. These pills are often sold on fake online pharmacies and on social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, where unsuspecting teens and young adults are targeted and poisoned. My son, Sammy, was one of them.
The president’s efforts to curtail drug trafficking from Venezuela also serve as an effective warning to Mexico and the cartels. Protecting the United States from narcoterrorism sometimes requires challenging international norms or deploying unconventional strategies. Criticizing those efforts without offering viable alternatives does little to help the families who are burying their children.
We need solutions, not politics.
Samuel P. Chapman Redondo Beach, Calif. The writer is the chief executive of Parent Collective Inc., a nonprofit that promotes education and activism about fentanyl poisoning.
To the Editor:
David Herzberg’s essay raises important distinctions in the fentanyl problem. We now focus drug policy discussions mainly on stopping the supply of drugs coming into the country. I have found that few policymakers or media pundits ever mention that fentanyl would not be coming into this country unless there were a huge demand for it. People do not import products they cannot sell.
Focusing on reducing supply alone will not solve the fentanyl problem. As was the strategy with heroin and cocaine, the nation’s response to fentanyl must be focused on reducing both supply and demand. Teaching people not to use dangerous drugs or any drugs not received directly from pharmacies has worked before. Think of cigarette smoking.
We successfully confronted the crack cocaine epidemic by running ads about users’ brains on cocaine. I suspect that if people were taught to only use drugs that they legally purchased, there would be many fewer fentanyl overdose cases and fatalities.
Yes, addicts require accessible treatment, but the recreational users buying drugs on the street from dealers or getting them from their friends might be helped by a national educational program explaining they are playing Russian roulette.
Eric D. Wish College Park, Md. The writer was the director of the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland for 32 years.
To the Editor:
The most overlooked truth in the national conversation about drug use — including fentanyl — is this: People turn to drugs because they want to feel better. Whether they want to escape pain, numb trauma or quiet anxiety, substance use is often a desperate solution to unmet emotional needs.
Criminalizing that pain doesn’t heal it. While accountability matters, it will never be enough on its own. Sustainable solutions must begin with compassion and continue with access to real tools for emotional resilience, connection and recovery. That includes relationship education, mental health support and community-based models that treat the whole person — not just the addiction.
If we keep approaching the crisis with fear, blame and sound bites, we will continue to lose people who might have been helped if only we’d asked what they were hurting from in the first place.
Seth Eisenberg Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Dark Echo at Penn
To the Editor:
Re “Backlash at Penn as U.S. Suit Seeks Names of Jewish Staff” (news article, Nov. 24):
The government’s subpoena for the names and contact information of Jewish students and faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania is horribly reminiscent of Nazi activities in the 1930s and ’40s.
Penn and all other institutions should stop collecting such information, even for statistical purposes. Furthermore, each of us, as individual citizens, should refuse to answer such questions, not because we necessarily expect to be targets, but to make such data collection invalid and useless.
James H. Fogel Bronx The writer is a retired judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York.
The post Extreme Measures for the Fentanyl Crisis appeared first on New York Times.
