Leaders | A losing battle

Fentanyl cannot be defeated without new tactics

Suppression works even less well than with other narcotics

First responders carry away a person experiencing a fentanyl overdose
Photograph: Jordan Gale/New York Times/Redux/Eyevine

IT IS OVER 50 years since Richard Nixon initiated America’s war on drugs, yet victory seems further away than ever. In the 12 months to September 2023 more than 105,000 Americans died from overdoses—almost double the number killed in combat in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. No matter how zealously the government patrols the border and how ferociously it pursues traffickers, the problem only seems to get worse.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A losing battle”

From the March 2nd 2024 edition

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