DEA to Help Cartels

"DEA announces additional regulatory steps to address opioid epidemic"

First, DEA got it wrong in claiming the opioid epidemic is "the nation’s deadliest drug epidemic in history." Do these bureaucrats not know that alcohol and nicotine, both drugs, kill many times more people every year than opioids have killed in many years?

But back to the plan to further regulate the supply of pharmaceutical opioids. Basic economic theory tells us that any reduction in supply of these inherently safer regulated drugs will keep prices up for the black market supply of unregulated heroin and fentanyl.

Furthermore, healthy drug cartels mean job security for DEA. They need each other. When will we realize that restrictive drug policy (prohibition) does more harm than good?

Berry Edwards, MD