One of the biggest campaign promises that helped propel President-elect Donald Trump to his Election Day victory involves America’s porous borders.
Of the myriad of issues that an open border presents, one of the most ominous and destructive issues it presents is the unchecked flow of deadly drugs into the country.
One of the chief scourges amid that broader drug crisis? Fentanyl.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is “about 100 times more potent” than morphine, and the illicit drug also appears “to be the primary driver of the increase in total drug overdose deaths” in America.
It’s no joke.
And yet, fentanyl has almost become a joke compared to a new, far deadlier drug that is creeping into America.
“Last year, nearly 70% of all U.S. overdose deaths were attributed to illegally manufactured fentanyls (IMFs),” Fox News reported. “One of those was carfentanil, an altered version of fentanyl that is said to be 100 times more potent, the CDC warned.”
The outlet, citing the CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, ominously adds: “Deaths from carfentanil rose by more than 700% in the past year, according to the same source — there were 29 deadly overdoses between January and June 2023, and 238 in that same time frame in 2024.”
The drug, which first burst onto the scene in 2016 before going dormant for a while, could be even deadlier than that, given that not all deaths have been reported on yet.
Fox noted that the relative ease of mass production has made carfentanil a resurgent and popular choice when it comes to drug use.
And that only further complicates Trump’s unenviable task of tackling America’s opioid crisis.
Whereas incumbent President Joe Biden has taken a more indirect approach to tackling the issue, Trump appears dead-set on tackling the issue head-on.
As the president-elect continues to search for his ideal DEA pick, Trump has made no secret of the fact that both the border crisis and the vicious flow of drugs that it entails must be addressed.
After all, carfentanil is hardly the only horror story to emerge from people playing Dr. Frankenstein with fentanyl pills.
As recently as May of 2023, horrific video emerged from major American metropolitan cities, like Philadelphia, grappling with a fentanyl abomination referred to as “tranq.”
That drug cocktail involves mixing fentanyl with an animal sedative.
Trump will officially be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025, and anyone who’s been tragically affected by America’s opioid crisis will likely be looking forward to it.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
