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The overcrowding of our prison system began. More importantly, the crime and drug problems in America did not lessen with these tough-on-crime sentences. Things got worse over the years as addicts moved on to black tar heroin, meth, Ketamine, Ecstasy and more.

Today, the deadliest drug is reported to be fentanyl. Not the medically approved pharmaceutical fentanyl, an opioid that treats severe pain, but rather illegally produced fentanyl mostly smuggled into the U.S. via illicit laboratories in China and Mexico. Tens of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses and other similar chemical compounds called analogues.

There are several bills pending in Congress now aimed at curbing distribution and use of fentanyl and its analogues. Some seek to label the addicting chemicals as highly regulated Schedule 1 dangerous opioids, which opponents say could adversely affect future scientific research. But guess what is also being considered as a solution to this deadly problem? You guessed it mandatory prison sentences for drug addicts and street dealers in possession of drugs containing fentanyl and its close cousins.

Reality check: Street-level sellers and buyers have no way of knowing if their drugs include fentanyl. Its added in by criminal chemical cookers at the source to give their drugs that extra punch that keeps customers coming back. Attorney General William Barr hit the nail on the head at his confirmation hearing last year when he said, The head of the snake is outside the country, and the place to fight this aggressively is at the source more than on the street corner. Barr added, we could stack up generation after generation of people in prison, and it will still keep on coming. Yet ironically, Barr has recently campaigned for passage of two bills that fail to focus on stopping fentanyl at the source.

When will lawmakers understand that locking up addicts and low-level dealers doesnt stop the problem? It just creates another fractured generation of ex-cons and ever-mounting incarceration costs for us to pay. Going after the source of the product that poisons so many is a much smarter long-term tactic.

Spend more money interdicting shipments of fentanyl and all illegal drugs coming into this country via the U.S. Postal Service. Outfit agencies like Customs and Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration with more personnel and technology to stop drug shipments headed this way, be they arriving via air, sea, land or through border tunnels. Make foreign aid dependent on whether the receiving country helps stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. And how about focusing on job-training for convicted dealers and truly meaningful treatment for addicts so that upon their release they become tax-paying citizens with decent jobs?

We need a modern-day War on Drugs. One that is strong and focused on stopping both the source of the poison and the demand those drugs create.

http://www.DianeDimond.com; e-mail to Diane@DianeDimond.com.

Read more:

Learn from the 80s, get a smart war on drugs - Albuquerque Journal