If you’ve seen the movie Traffic, you’ve seen the portrayal of a difficult, but poignant question. Does drug policy lie in the fight against drug dealers or in the treatment of drug problems. We’re seeing that art-imitating-life play out yet again. This time in a new fentanyl crackdown.
Trump administration policy for mental health and substance abuse made continued developments this past week. NPR recently reported that the Trump administration has opted to add greater penalties to fentanyl trafficking offenders. These penalties include longer prison sentences, among others.
These fentanyl crackdown efforts align with the Administration’s 2024’s promise to curb fentanyl availability and reduce overdoses.
However, NPR also reported that the Trump Administration is intentionally reducing already-allocated grant funding to many key substance related treatment efforts. Funding is now withheld for safety and harm reduction programs, as well as abstinence-based treatments.
The CDC, researchers, and treatment organizations widely credit those treatment efforts for significant reductions in overdose deaths over the past year. Experts worry that these cuts will actually reverse that progress. Without funding, key programs made immediate cuts to staff, clinicians, and programming. These reductions greatly impacted the ability for those treatment efforts to continue.
Like Traffic, many in the treatment community ponder key questions in the midst of this ongoing fentanyl crackdown. For instance, is it most effective to target where drugs like fentanyl come from? Or, to target the psychosocial need humans have to acquire them in the first place? And with treatment services leading to decreased level of overdose deaths, many wonder “if it ain’t broke…?” But time will truly tell the effects these specific cuts will have on fentanyl availability, use behaviors, and overdoses.
Oh, and watch Traffic. Or watch it again! It’s a great multi-award winning film with an incredible cast! Mental health dissemination does not always include film recs, but we thought this one applied. You’ll thank us later.
