Wednesday, December 27, 2023
The Problem of Fentanyl
Only four or five years ago, a pill of fentanyl cost $25 on the street in Minneapolis.
A few weeks ago, I asked for a survey of street prices now. The majority of responses were right around $2 in the Twin Cities.
What does that mean? Lots of bad things.
The first problem with cheap fentanyl is the same problem presented by crack (which made cocaine cheap) 40 years ago: it's accessible to almost anyone with a few bucks. That means that far more people are trying it-- and it is becoming cheaper than alternatives that present less risk. Reportedly, one person caught with fentanyl in Minneapolis said that she had it because it was cheaper than marijuana. The most dangerous drug has become the cheapest.
The second problem is that powder fentanyl has become a cheap thing to cut into other drugs-- and people are overdosing on fentanyl without even knowing that is a part of what they are buying on the streets.
If we can do things that raise the price of fentanyl on the street, that will do two things, in turn: fewer people will use it (we know from cigarettes that even highly addictive substances are price sensitive) and it will less often be cut into other drugs.
So the project is clear: raise the price on the streets without increasing incarceration.
That's what I am working on now.
