Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) wrote a letter to President Joe Biden on Tuesday amid the ongoing fentanyl crisis, urging him to make the director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) a cabinet-level position again to better address the opioid crisis.
Moody, in the December 19 letter, wrote that Americans “need their elected leaders and policy makers taking unified action against this carnage.” She noted that the director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was removed from a cabinet-level position to a presidential appointment years ago but called on Biden to reverse the decision, contending that the absence of this position has “left a gaping hole in coordinating our nation’s priorities and policies for drug control.”
She identified fentanyl as the “number one killer of adults aged 18-45.” In August, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) added further context, explaining that fentanyl overdoses accounted for nearly 70 percent of all overdoses in the Sunshine State.
“Don’t let anybody tell you that that open border is not affecting our communities,” the governor said at the time. “Here in the state of Florida, it is having a devastating impact.”
“It is not only killing adults but teenagers as well,” Moody wrote. “Fentanyl-related deaths among teens increased 168% in 2020, with 680 deaths nationwide—last year, 77% of all teen overdose deaths involved fentanyl.”
The Republican pointed directly to China by noting that the death toll is ” being fueled by illicit fentanyl manufactured in either China, or with chemicals from China, and smuggled across our southwest border by drug cartels.”
Moody blasted Biden for failing to address this with communist dictator Xi Jinping, and she reminded Biden that the expiration of Title 42 will only exacerbate the deadly issue. She also noted that the crisis is “jeopardizing the safety of our first responders who may unknowingly come into contact with this substance while they are protecting their communities,” briefly recapping the recent story of a Florida police officer who had to be treated after coming into contact with the deadly opioid during a traffic stop. She was saved by quick action and multiple doses of Narcan.
Moody continued:
If you continue to refuse to address this issue on an international level—where certainly ground could be gained—at least step aside and allow a qualified drug czar the authority to act in the best interests of Americans at home. By reestablishing the ONDCP director as a cabinet level position, you can bring more accountability and flexibility to an office that could be better used to stop the influx of deadly fentanyl across the southwest border. It will also elevate the drug czar to a position more suitable to serve as a check on the terrible immigration policies perpetuating this crisis.
“Your failure to take action as President is baffling. As many Americans come together this holiday season, many of them will be forced to miss their loved ones lost to fentanyl,” she said, calling on the president to finally take action.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, authorities seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American. That translates to “more than 379 million potentially deadly doses.”