A growing coalition of US politicians wants tougher police tactics to be used against the gangs currently selling fentanyl, methamphetamine and xylazine.
Democratic Senator Catherine Masto Cortez of Nevada, the lead sponsor of the bill to strengthen penalties for the sale of the synthetic drug xylazine, said: “We need to stop the trafficking of these drugs. this and provide law enforcement with the necessary tools.”
Massive drug raids, drug seizures, and mass arrests of drug traffickers have been the cornerstone of America’s war on drugs since the 1970s.
But New research published in the American Journal of Public Health suggest
Drug seizures and police crackdowns on dealers can actually make the overdose crisis worse.
study, has undergone a rigorous peer review process for its controversial findings, based on data collected in Indianapolis, Indiana found patterns of overdose and death following drug seizures in the city.
“With opioids, we saw a doubling in drug overdose in the area around the immediate seizure,” said Jennifer Carroll, a medical anthropologist at the University of North Carolina and a co-author of the paper. that is, maybe within 5 minutes of walking after that seizure in the next few weeks.” .
What happens after you arrest a drug dealer?
Law enforcement agencies have argued for years that arresting traffickers and disrupting the street drug supply will make communities safer.
Lawmakers in state houses and Congress have raced to increase funding for drug prevention, while strengthening criminal penalties for fentanyl trafficking.
Senator Masto Cortez told NPR: “We cannot allow drugs to come in because we are seeing so many deaths.”
Are harsher fentanyl sentences the solution to the opioid crisis? Experts say no
But Carroll said a growing body of data, including her own research, suggests drug sweeps and seizures can destabilize the ecosystem of illegal activity.
Addicts end up buying fentanyl, methamphetamine and other high-risk street drugs from strangers selling drugs of varying potency – often with different, more dangerous ingredients.
When people with severe addictions are forced to quit – even for a short time – it can change how much they tolerate it. Start using them again and they may be more prone to overdose and death.
Carroll notes: “When supply is disrupted, demand does not fall. “It’s really the drug market disruption that is causing a lot of the harm of illicit drug use.”
Brandon Del Pozo is a former police chief who is currently studying drug policy at Brown University. He’s one of the co-authors of this new study and says the evidence is now clear that anti-drug tactics put lives at risk without actually cleaning up neighborhoods.
“There’s a long history of major drug seizures followed by press conferences that say ‘This time it’s going to be different, this time it’s going to make a difference,'” Del Pozo said. “But except for the short term, when it leads to an overdose, it doesn’t make a difference.”
Research raises questions. Politicians call for tough action
Indeed, many of these tactics have been used for half a century, but critics say they are ineffective.
Street drug supply is now cheaper, more readily available and more toxic than ever before; About 110,000 people in the United States died from a fatal drug overdose in the last year alone, a devastating new record.
Indianapolis has repeatedly seen massive drug seizures. This happened in 2011. Critics question whether they are making the city safer or reducing the supply of street drugs.
US Drug Enforcement Administration
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US Drug Enforcement Administration
“If the goal is to save lives, then we have pretty good reason to save lives, then we have good reason to believe that criminalization really doesn’t serve that purpose well,” Carroll said.
But the fear of fentanyl is increasing political pressure on drug traffickers to take a harder line.
“I don’t see the enforcement aspect of it slowing down at all, many people are doubling down,” said Brittney Garrett, a former police officer who now advises police departments on anti-drug tactics. .
Senator Cortez Masto described her xylazine measure – which has broad bipartisan support – as a necessary legal tool to strengthen penalties and “suppress human traffickers”.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is a former state attorney general leading a bipartisan effort to strengthen penalties for xylazine traffickers.
Cliff Owen/AP
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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is a former state attorney general leading a bipartisan effort to strengthen penalties for xylazine traffickers.
Cliff Owen/AP
“I can only tell you what I’m seeing and hearing from my law enforcement,” Senator Cortz Masto told NPR. Xylazine is “becoming an emerging threat, one that we need to address now and not wait to lose more lives.”
Beau Kilmer, head of the Rand Center for Drug Policy Research, agrees that police should play a major role in cleaning up neighborhoods where drug trafficking is rampant.
“If you can reduce the number of people trading on the streets and allow people to take back their neighborhoods that could be a real benefit,” he said.
Can drug seizure be included in a broader public health strategy?
But Kilmer said the study shows that before drug arrests and arrests happen, police must do more planning to prevent deadly drug overdoses.
“They’re going to want to make sure they talk to the people at the health department and make sure they have a thoughtful plan in place to make sure treatment is available,” says Kilmer.
Some experts say this type of combination, while increasing, is still rare.
NPR asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Indianapolis police for interviews about the study to find out how the findings might shape their tactics. The DEA did not respond.
Indianapolis police sent out a brief statement saying they will review the findings from the study but remain committed to eliminating drugs from the streets.
“We look forward to partnering with law enforcement, healthcare providers, and other organizations who are committed to reducing drug trafficking and substance abuse,” said the statement. Indianapolis police spokeswoman Alexa Boylan said in an email.
Just days after the new study was published, police across Indianapolis – working with the DEA – conducted another major drug raid, seizing about 200 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“I think what you see here today sends a message to our community, we are resilient,” said Indianapolis Deputy Sheriff Kendale Adams.
He did not mention the overdose study or its warnings but said police were cooperating with public health authorities.
“We will work with [the Office of Public Health and Safety] come back to some of these neighborhoods to see what they can do to change people’s lives, change people’s minds, so they can get out of the game.”
Some experts on police drug enforcement tactics believe that law enforcement must do more to protect public health before drug seizures occur. That means more advanced planning and coordination with harm reduction groups and others focused on helping people with addictions.
“The way I see it, we don’t have it,” said Brittney Garrett, a former police officer who now works with a pro-reform group called the Police Supported Addiction and Rehabilitation and Recovery Initiative. any other option.
“Without law enforcement, public health, behavioral health, harm reduction working together, we will have more people harmed.”
