Nп/п : 95 из 100
От : China Biden 2:5075/128 24 сен 23 01:13:50
К : All 24 сен 23 08:17:05
Тема : Re: `It`s everywhere`: Fighting the war against fentanyl - DEM SOLUTION
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@MSGID: <20230924.011350.310c9fe3@erienetworks.net>
7fdd120a
@REPLY: 56@dont-email.me> eb70d978
@REPLYADDR China Biden <remailer@domain.invalid>
@REPLYTO 2:5075/128 China Biden
@CHRS: CP866 2
@RFC: 1 0
@RFC-Message-ID:
<20230924.011350.310c9fe3@erienetworks.net>
@RFC-References: 56@dont-email.me>
@TZUTC: -0400
@TID: FIDOGATE-5.12-ge4e8b94
In article
56@dont-email.me>
Democratic elected officials are distancing themselves from
progressives critical of law enforcement as tens of thousands of
Americans continue to die each year from drug overdoses.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a Texas border district, Oregon
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Texas state Sen. Royce West of
Dallas joined POLITICO on Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival in
Austin to talk about the next steps needed to confront America`s
current opioid crisis.
They agreed that stopping drugs at the border, and prosecuting
dealers, is part of the answer, along with treatment and prevention.
The backdrop for their alarm is an increase in fatal drug overdoses
during the Covid pandemic that has refused to abate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that
illegal drugs killed 110,000 people last year, most of it driven by
illicit fentanyl.
Emergent BioSolutions, the maker of the opioid overdose reversal
drug Narcan, sponsored the forum.
Here are three takeaways from the event, moderated by POLITICO`s
Megan Messerly:
Some Democrats still want to throw the book at dealers
Progressives see a direct line between the war on drugs and mass
incarceration and have pushed Democrats to legalize drugs, defund
police and exercise prosecutorial discretion to alleviate the war`s
costs, particularly for people of color.
But the three Democrats at POLITICO`s forum said they still see a
place for law enforcement.
West defended a new Texas law that permits prosecutors to charge
fentanyl dealers with murder and increases criminal penalties for
the manufacturing or delivery of the drug.
"We`ve got to make certain that persons that deal with this issue
understand that there are consequences," West said.
Oregon`s Rosenblum acknowledged the fentanyl problem in Portland
that`s grown worse since state voters legalized possession of small
amounts of hard drugs in 2020.
"It`s everywhere. No one can deny it. If you do, you`ve just got
blinders on," she said, explaining that her office was "very strong
on the interdiction of drugs, and very strong on prosecution" of
dealers.
Asked about the drug war`s legacy, Cuellar said, "You can argue if
it`s been successful or not successful."
Mexico could do more
Cuellar rejected the call from some Republican hardliners to bomb
the Mexican cartels.
But the border district lawmaker said that he, too, is frustrated
with a lack of cooperation from the Mexican government, and with the
Biden administration`s diplomacy.
"They can certainly do a lot more. We just need the administration
to be a little firmer with Mexico," Cuellar said.
Chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl from China enter Mexico
through two ports on its Pacific coast, said Cuellar. Then criminal
organizations make it into fentanyl.
Catching the drug at the U.S.-Mexico border, where tens of thousands
of trucks, cars and trains pass every day, is difficult because the
technology used to find drugs is designed to catch larger illegal
drug shipments, he said.
Fentanyl comes in small quantities. It`s so potent that tiny amounts
are enough to manufacture many counterfeit pills.
Mexican President Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador has at times extended
a hand and at others denied that fentanyl is produced in his
country, accused U.S. lawmakers of scapegoating and said the U.S.
might not have an overdose crisis if Americans hugged their children
more.
"They do work with us," Cuellar said of the Mexican government, but
"the action doesn`t match the words."
Naloxone and fentanyl test strips can save lives but resistance to
the latter lingers
The panelists agreed there`s a need to make naloxone, the opioid
overdose reversal drug that now comes as an over-the-counter nasal
spray, available around the country, from schools to businesses.
"When you go now to places, fire stations in Laredo, and they have a
dispensing place there where you can get Narcan, you know things
have changed," Cuellar said, using the brand name for naloxone.
Test strips, which people can use to check if the pills or drugs
they plan to use are tainted with fentanyl, can also save lives, the
speakers agreed.
But while most states have decriminalized them, some, including
Texas, continue to treat them as drug paraphernalia.
A bill making strips legal, supported by Texas Republican Gov. Greg
Abbott, died in the Texas Senate recently because some lawmakers
believe legalization will give people more confidence to abuse
drugs, the Dallas Morning News reported.
West, who also introduced a bill to decriminalize strips, said
there`s not yet a consensus in the Texas Senate to do so.
"And, unfortunately, what will probably happen, the more and more
deaths that are occasioned by the use of fentanyl, then the more
there will be a willingness in order to decriminalize it," he said.
"It is moving, and I think, ultimately, it will get done," West
added.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/23/confronting-opioid-crisis-
event-takeaways-00117802
--- FIDOGATE 5.12-ge4e8b94
* Origin: usenet.network (2:5075/128)
SEEN-BY: 5001/100 5005/49 5015/255 5019/40 5020/715
848 1042 4441 12000
SEEN-BY: 5030/49 1081 5058/104 5075/128
@PATH: 5075/128 5020/1042 4441