A Country Saturated in Drugs

In the US, deaths are at a near two-decade low—something that causes raised eyebrows for multiple reasons, especially given all that’s transpired in the past three years. We’re always hearing a lot about gun-related deaths (which of course should not be downplayed or overlooked), however many American deaths are reportedly a result of fentanyl or alcohol:

“Deaths from drug overdoses reached over 106,000 last year — another major factor reducing life expectancy, according to the second CDC analysis released on Thursday. Deaths by suicide and from liver disease, or cirrhosis, caused by alcohol also increased shortening the average American life span.”

The alcohol problem won’t likely be solved, not any time soon at least. This is because a significant portion of the country enjoys drinking too much to be willing to do anything about it besides things like harsher punishments for drinking and driving. It’s an extremely ridiculous situation when you consider the terrible harm this drug has on users and many around them.

Even the Emirates seems to be cashing in more on alcohol by removing the 30% alcohol tax and no longer charging for personal alcohol licenses that allow people (not Muslims) to drink at home. Removing a tax to make more money may sound counter-intuitive, but reportedly the logic is that this will attract more tourists.

Unlike the never-ending alcohol crisis, the fentanyl crisis is a whole different animal. It is something that the media has given a fair amount of attention to—and with good reason too, since it’s killing a lot of people. Recall too that even for those who survive and use it, such use is potentially harmful to countless others. Consider these school children who witnessed their teacher succomb to the effects of an overdose in front of them, during class.

What Is Fentanyl?

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and a derivative of morphine which can be up to fifty times stronger than heroin (synthetic drugs that replace things like heroin and marijuana are on the rise). Fentanyl’s potenecy is one of the reason so many people have turned to it and why drug dealers mix it in with other drugs. The problem is—along with the problem of using any drug—a mere two-milligram dose can be deadly.¹

According to the author of Fentanyl, Inc. (2019), ninety percent of fentanyl is produced in China.² In this more recent article, it’s stated that most of the fentanyl seized this year was produced by Mexican drug cartels who sourced the ingredients from China and that the amount seized was enough to kill every American:

“The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says they intercepted 379m potentially deadly fentanyl doses, which is just two milligrams…[I]t seized more than 10,000lb (4,500kg) of fentanyl, as well as over 50.6m fentanyl pills that were made to resemble different prescription painkillers. That is more than double what they seized in 2021.

Most of the drugs were mass-produced at secret factories in Mexico by the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels, which use chemicals sourced in China, the agency said.

The drug is so powerful that a lethal dose is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil”

While the DEA focuses on defeating the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels (yikes), journalists covering the US delears to whom fentanyl is distributed would be wise to widen their scope when reporting on this topic.

It’s no mystery why drug dealers are mixing it with other drugs that they’re selling and of course, why, as a result of this, so many users are dying.

What seems to be missing from coverage of this story, however, is this: journalists are talking to gang members and drug dealers, but it seems the story we get is just the ‘racey’ side of it—guns, people doing drugs, selling drugs, etc. (such as in the video embedded in this news piece).

We see this, and then we see people who have sadly lost loved ones to it.

This may give a picture of the general problem, but it offers no solutions, only despair. In fact, when we are offered a solution, it’s this: make drugs legal.

Asking the Right Questions

Beyond what we already know about the opioid crisis, I think the journalists who make this effor to seek out and speak to drug dealers (who seem willing to anonymously share secrets) should ask questions like these:

• How much are you making per month?
• Did you try to find a ‘normal’ job before you started dealing drugs? Could you support yourself and your family then?
• Are you the primary provider for your family?

I know a little too house-to-house survey-like, but there’s a logic here…

These people are doing terrible things, and I make no excuses for the selling of drugs, because there isn’t one.

Recall too that while some drug dealers do their business in back alleys and try to live in the shadows, others are embraced by the public (or were, if you’re the Sackler family) and have entire wings of museums made in their name. Society shuns one and wines and dines with the other. Go figure.

I hope what I’m about to say doesn’t sound like the Social Justice Warriors who want all criminals to just get a slap on the wrist: If illicit drug sales are going to be so heavily covered in the media, then I think the very reason as to why people engage in such activity should be given more focus.

Perhaps some of them are hopelessly lost in the society that they’re supposed to be a part of; perhaps others tried to have somewhat normal jobs, but working at McDonald’s just wasn’t cutting it. People often turn to illegal activity when they are unable to find any other way to make a decent living. If you watch the video included in the BBC news piece, you’ll see that a lot of the gang activity was taking place in low-income housing.

Others have no such reason aside from poor decisions and laziness. Understanding all of this—but of course NOT punishing those caught less—seems a better way to solve the problem that is killing many people than to say make drugs legal.

Putting more effort into stopping people from becoming dealers (and of course severely punishing dealers since they’re killing people after all) seems like a better way forward than just making all drugs legal. I know the argument—they can test it for purity; they can tax it; they will eliminate the illegal market. After all, they tell us that people will still just do drugs anyway.

We’re already getting a glimpse at what drug legalization would look like, and it’s awful. Marijuana continues to be normalized even to the detriment of children, who accidentally ate a record number of cannabis edibles in 2021. People argue that legalizing drugs would eliminate drug dealers and ensure purity levels, but even if they were, this would not get rid of the addictive nature of drugs.

For those who have seen first hand what purity-regulated alcohol can do to users and their families, this argument should fall flat.

RELATED: Government Issued Crackpipes: Latest Chapter In America’s Shameful Drug History

Shifting Perspectives

Consider this program started in Rwanda, in which the government hired animal poachers to guard wildlife:

“Javier Kwizera, a Community Conservation Warden says employing the poachers was to show them that they could earn a living elsewhere.”

Perhaps some people will just continue to make bad life decisions, but others may not if they could make a decent living in another way. Fewer drug dealers means a smaller market, which likely means fewer users.

This type of approach has been attempted on a small-scale, and with some success, such as in Richmond, California, where they broke the cycle of poverty and crime by paying criminals to stop committing crimes. I’m not advocating for an exact copy of that program; we can just turn to the Shari’ah for the best approach and punishments. The simple point I’m trying to make here is that perhaps many would stop committing crimes if they could make a better living elsewhere.

Muslims are not immune to these problems.

RELATED: My Muslim Teen Is Doing Drugs! A Cautionary Tale

Drug Use in Somalia

In Somalia now, there is an opioid problem, particularly among children (especially street children) and women:

“According to the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development [of Somalia], more than 40% of street children take drugs.

About a fifth of street children in Somalia are girls. Some 10% are under six years old, some as young as three.

Although khat, glue and chewing tobacco are the most common substances abused by street children, a study conducted by the ministry found that nearly 10% use opioids and about 17% use sleeping tablets.”

Some of these drugs are being taken intravenously, which is likely to spread illnesses like HIV/AIDS. On top of that, it is reported that these drugs empower the youth gang, Ciyaal Weero.

It’s apparently quite easy to acquire opioids in Mogadishu. It is said that you can get them in pharmacies without a prescription. For the pharmacists, as one can imagine, this is just easy money.

Afghanistan (particularly under US occupation) of course has been another example of what can happen when poverty, fertile land, and corruption combine to create the perfect storm for drug markets.

Final Points

I’m not so foolish as to assume that I’ve provided a clear and absolute solution to these problems by simply writing this article and providing some perspective. What I do hope, nonetheless, is that it helps to spread some awareness of the problems with the overall approach often taken in the media towards illicit drug use, an approach that seems to leave much of the public believing that the best way to solve this problem is to just legalize all drugs.

Despite the consequences, with rampant inflation and economies around the world struggling, both users and sellers have reasons to engage with drugs.

I’m aware that some people will just choose to be criminals, but the current approach just seems like an unending game of cat-and-mouse, with far too many victims and the easy ‘answer’ of just legalizing all drugs. Things like Shariah-like punishments for drug dealers and better understanding and coverage of this cycle of crime starts so that it can be nipped in the bud would be helpful.

RELATED: Does Drug Decriminalization Work? A Case Study in America

Notes