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--:-- John Bickley: Fentanyl overdoses were once a border state issue, but now they're plaguing every major city in the U.S. Small quantities go a long way, and so a lot of people started to die accidentally. We look at the effect fentanyl had on America's most populous city, New York, in 2022.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, January 4th, and this is Morning Wire. Buffalo Bills player DeMar Hamlin remains in critical condition. We hear the latest from the team and Hamlin's family. And companies are raising employee pay at historic rates. But is it enough to keep pace with inflation? Wages since the pandemic have not matched the increase in prices. The real worker wages have gone down.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: New York City is in the midst of an overdose epidemic as fentanyl is flooding its streets and spiking the number of fatalities. In the 12 months leading up to July 2022, at least 2,800 New Yorkers passed away from overdoses with a large majority of those fatalities involving fentanyl. That represents a 125% increase from the data in 2016.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss this tragic trend is columnist David Marcus. Hi Dave.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. It's extremely bad. One expert says that it's worse than the crack epidemic of the 1980s, which is remarkable. It's really a function of two things. First, that even a tiny amount of fentanyl, the size of a pencil tip, can kill. And second, it's so cheap that it's basically replaced heroin as the opiate of choice for dealers and users alike.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, so fentanyl is mainly known as a synthetic substitute for heroin, but it can also be used to cut other drugs. How does that affect this problem as it continues to worsen?
--:-- David Marcus: I mean, it can be used to cut almost any drug, and that has a massive impact. Heroin, though less risky than fentanyl, is associated with a fairly high rate of deadly overdoses. A drug like cocaine is not. People rarely die directly from it, but the presence of fentanyl changes all that. In one day in New York, three people were killed by laced cocaine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And again, there's just no way to know if the cocaine is laced or not. And these were not the kind of people we associate with drug overdoses. They were executives not hardcore addicts. They thought they were just taking a party drug.
--:-- David Marcus: And perhaps even worse, the drug is used to produce counterfeit prescription drugs like Xanax or Adderall. And that exposes kids at a fairly young age to death when they think they're taking a relatively safe pill that some might even have a prescription for.
--:-- John Bickley: I think for all of us who are parents, it's absolutely terrifying. And there's no shortage of examples of kids dying from this.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, it's just tragic. Where is this fentanyl coming from primarily, and what measures are authorities taking to address the crisis?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Three words, the southern border.
--:-- David Marcus: This is another example, like illegal immigration, of an issue that starts in border towns and states but makes its way north, causing havoc. Mexican drug cartels are making out like the bandits that they are, smuggling both human beings and fentanyl across a border that our country just isn't protecting.
--:-- John Bickley: And to add insult to injury, a lot of this is coming from China, which means that one of our greatest geopolitical foes is seeing a massive windfall by killing American citizens. It's a disaster in so many different ways.
--:-- David Marcus: And so far, we just haven't seen effective solutions. Speaking of that, what are some of the proposals that have been floated to try to deal with the fentanyl crisis? And how realistic are they actually?
--:-- Georgia Howe: The left and the right have a very different approach. Progressives want to manage addiction in government-sponsored safe drug sites where supposedly they can monitor the drugs being used. But fentanyl is so ubiquitous and outside drugs are so common at these sites that it really doesn't work.
--:-- David Marcus: Conservatives have suggested greater penalties for those selling fentanyl, even charging dealers with murder, not just drug dealing, should someone die from one of their products laced with fentanyl. That may be enough to persuade some drug dealers to stop using it to cut other drugs, but history shows criminal penalties only go so far.
--:-- John Bickley: Ultimately, the flow of the drug into the country needs to be quelled, either through a stronger border, direct intervention against the cartels in Mexico, or both. The problem with those solutions is that they sound a long way off.
--:-- David Marcus: What can people do now to protect themselves and others from this drug?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Look, I think especially as it pertains to kids, it just has to be made crystal clear that there is no safe drug at this point, even if it looks like a prescription pill. It only takes once to die. That's a hard conversation to have, but it's the truth, and it's a truth that can be life-saving.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, it's a difficult conversation, but one certainly worth having.
--:-- John Bickley: David, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, the latest on Damar Hamlin. Buffalo Bills safety DeMar Hamlin remains in critical condition. We hear the latest from the team and Hamlin's family.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And companies are raising employee pay at historic rates. But is it enough to keep pace with inflation? Wages since the pandemic have not matched the increase in prices. The real worker wages have gone down.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
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