McCormick’s anti-fentanyl legislation is a repeat of the same failed history of the war on drugs

One of the first pieces of legislation Sen. Dave McCormick has introduced focuses on stopping fentanyl distribution. Perhaps this topic is not surprising given that Pennsylvanians — and Philadelphians, in particular — have been hit hard by the opioid crisis.

In the two-plus decades Americans have been dying of opioids — once upon a time from heroin purchased on the street, and today from fentanyl — has no one thought to try the approach of disrupting the supply of these substances and targeting trafficking organizations before? Of course, they have, including long before fentanyl became the boogie man-substance du jour of our failed war on some people who use some drugs.

The initiative McCormick has proposed, and which is cosponsored by Pennsylvania’s senior senator, John Fetterman, will do precisely nothing to turn the tide of the crisis. In fact, there are hopeful signs the overdose death rate is starting to come down, and fast, potentially making this task force a waste of government resources entirely.

McCormick, however, is simply repeating the failed history of the drug war that focuses on only half the equation of substance and opioid use disorders. I suspect he is simply looking to score political points by attacking China, Mexico, and immigrants, all with the thin veneer of appearing to help Pennsylvanians.

As someone who positioned himself as a savvy businessperson during the campaign, McCormick — like all of the antidrug warriors who preceded him — is either willfully ignorant of or has simply forgotten the first rule of economics, which very much applies to illicit drug markets: demand drives supply, not the other way around.

For decades now, our political and law enforcement leaders have waged a one-sided battle on illegal drugs, only to see the rates of use holding steady, while access to illegal drugs has gotten easier, and the drugs themselves are deadlier than ever.

McCormick’s proposed task force is simply more of the same. The drug war is nothing if not an exercise in the apocryphal definition of insanity — doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.

Related to the supply-and-demand question in licit or illicit markets is the concept of the “Iron Law of Prohibition.” Briefly, it is the idea that as authorities crack down on a substance, a more potent and lethal one will take its place because demand for the product will still exist.

When the federal government finally began regulating the legal prescription market is when we saw a rapid increase in heroin-related overdose deaths, as those whose prescriptions were suddenly cut off still needed something to avoid the pains associated with withdrawal.

Heroin then (or more accurately, because the history of drug panics tends to be cyclical, again) became the focus of law enforcement’s supply-side interventions, where there were undoubtedly successes in tamping down the production and distribution of heroin, but this gave rise to our current crisis.

The first rule of economics very much applies to illicit drug markets: demand drives supply, not the other way around.

Fentanyl is much more concentrated, meaning it is easier to smuggle, just like when beer was the most-consumed alcoholic beverage prior to the Prohibition Era, whiskey and other spirits then became Americans’ drink of choice because it was what was most available at the time.

I do not know what is next once fentanyl fades from the scene, but we can be fairly certain something even deadlier will take its place. We may have already seen a glimpse of what it is here in Philadelphia with synthetic opioids called nitazenes.

If Sens. McCormick and Fetterman really want to prevent American deaths, they ought to look at the cuts coming to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and not only save the funding of that agency but increase it.

SAMHSA and its relatively tiny budget have been at the forefront of the efforts to reduce opioid-related overdoses and deaths through compassionate care, harm reduction, and promoting evidence-based treatment options for those struggling with substance use disorder and opioid use disorder.

Notably absent from SAMHSA’s portfolio are any sort of law enforcement actions.

Christopher E. Kelly is a professor of criminal justice at St. Joseph’s University.