We must tackle the growing counterfeit drug problem to save Kentuckians from the fentanyl crisis
The fentanyl crisis has ravaged Kentucky’s communities. The 2022 Overdose Fatality report that the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet released in June stated that, in 2022, 2,135 Kentuckians lost their lives to a fentanyl drug overdose.
In my community, we have had at least one family who lost both of their sons to fentanyl.
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As we mourn every life lost, we must also not lose sight of the incremental progress we are making to combat this health epidemic. Last year, Kentucky was one of only eight states to see overdose death decrease, with a decline of more than 5%. This comes after our commonwealth took more aggressive measures to tackle the fentanyl crisis, passing “Dalton’s Law” in honor of a 22-year old Kentuckian who tragically lost his life to fentanyl after taking just one laced pill. This bill increased the minimum time served for fentanyl drug trafficking to at least 85% of their criminal sentences. We’ve also passed legislation providing additional resources for drug treatment and recovery, which has worked remarkably well..
However, with so many Kentucky lives being lost from fentanyl, this is not the time to spike the football. We cannot let up.
Counterfeit drugs are driving the fentanyl crisis
For too long, we have overlooked the pernicious role counterfeit drugs has played in driving the fentanyl crisis.
In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills, 60% of which contained a potentially lethal dose. Enforcement officials seized 184,382 of those pills in the Louisville Division, which covers Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. These counterfeit pills largely come from China, which is also the principal source of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, and are purchased over the Internet.
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While it is bad enough that these counterfeit drugs are jeopardizing the over 30,000 biotech jobs and $8.5 billion in value the biopharmaceutical sector provides to the commonwealth, no one can put a price on their human toll.
This problem is so severe and prevalent that the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness is now advising Kentuckians to assume that prescription drugs they buy anywhere but a pharmacy are counterfeit. It is also directing everyone to keep Naloxone or Narcan — medications that can reverse opioid overdoses — in their homes.
Solutions to fentanyl crisis have bipartisan support
Thankfully, both major political parties — both their leaders and their grassroots supporters — agree that this is a full-blown war for our friends and neighbors’ lives that Kentucky must win. A coalition of Democratic and Republican senators are already working together on legislation to require the Drug Enforcement Administration to issue a comprehensive plan to tackle this growing counterfeit pill problem.
As Sen. Rand Paul, a medical doctor, has made clear, now is not the time for us to cower in the face of this threat. Now is the time to address it head-on.
He is right. We must leverage this significant bipartisan momentum to end this epidemic while we still can. Doing anything less would represent a disservice to Kentucky’s families and communities who deserve better than this.
Mike Wilson represents the 32nd District in the Kentucky State Senate and is the Senate Majority Whip. He lives in Bowling Green
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky's fentanyl crisis has counterfeit pills to blame
