Illustration by Lusco y Fusco
A fascist dictator and Donald Trump now have something (else) in common: They both want to execute drug dealers. Yes, Trump went on the record Monday with the same position as Filipino dictator Rodrigo Duterte, doubling down on a statement he made last June.
Trump trotted out his plan to combat opioids, launching a website and initiative called CrisisNextDoor.org. He claims he is going to cut prescription drug addictions by one-third in the next three years.
“We will defeat this crisis, we will protect our beautiful children, and we will ensure that tomorrow is better, brighter, stronger, and greater than ever before,” he said in a blustering speech in New Hampshire.
No doubt we are witnessing an opioid epidemic of massive proportions, but are we really going to start executing drug dealers? Is that really going to solve the problem?
How about we address the underlying roots of the opioid problem: poverty, poor education, minimum wage, and race?
Many people deal drugs because it is the only way they can support themselves or their families, given that minimum wage is piddly.
For example, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the living wage for an adult in my city of Chicago is $13.30. However, the minimum wage is only $8.25. Let’s not conflate the “war on drugs” with the war on the poor.
All of a sudden, we care about addiction because it’s happening to rural, suburban, middle-class white people. The crack-cocaine scourge in the ‘80s was largely ignored by the federal government because most of the addicted were inner-city African Americans.
And speaking of the Reagan ‘80s, the “Just Say No” campaign touted by Nancy Reagan was a complete flop. The butt of a national joke.
Education is another important factor when it comes to curbing this epidemic. Every year, 1.2 million high school students drop out of school in the U.S. Our failing schools are not prepping kids for vocational training or college, which has become exceedingly expensive. Bernie Sanders has proposed free college for all, and it’s a position I stand by.
The fabled Great Wall of Mexico won’t stop drugs from entering the U.S. For years, drug cartels have been using sophisticated tunnels, not to mention today’s new technology: Drones are now being used to smuggle drugs across the border, and no wall is going to stop them.
Trump is also encouraging the development of non-addictive painkillers, which are essentially an oxymoron. Painkillers, by nature, are addictive.
Crumby commercials are another strategy being pimped by Trump.
“I’ve been very strongly in favor of spending a lot of money on great commercials showing how bad it is, so that kids seeing those commercials during the right shows on television or wherever — the Internet — when they see these commercials they [think] ‘I don’t want any part of it,’” Trump said Monday.
His position on opioids represents a slippery slope that could lead to even more extreme policies. They already kill addicts in the Philippines. Could that be Trump’s next suggestion for our country? Trump also advocates litigation against drug companies. And shall we kill the pharmaceutical reps, while we’re at it?
This reminds me of Kanye West’s rant on national television that “George W. Bush doesn’t care about black people.” I fear President Trump doesn’t really care about addicts. He cares about applause at his rallies. All of this mumbo jumbo about “protecting our beautiful children” is merely window dressing. We don’t need your photo op, Mr. President. We need a higher minimum wage. We need better education. And we need results on poverty. Only then will our “beautiful children” thrive.
