Leftist “sanctuary cities” are enclaves where immigration laws aren’t enforced by local leaders.
This has led to spikes in crime and strain on civil services and are all around just a bad idea.
But now these sanctuary cities are providing a sanctuary for something completely crazy.
According to The New York Times, new data shows a surge in overdose deaths involving fentanyl and methamphetamine and the nation saw a 15 percent increase in deaths from overdoses in 2021.
So one would think the smart play would be to discourage drug use and make the consequences more dire to dissuade people from using harmful substances.
But not in New York!
The New York City Department of Health says it is focused on preventing overdoses, not by discouraging harmful drugs, but by providing a guide to the supposedly safe use of these deadly substances.
On the city’s Health Department’s official website, the “how to” guide says, “Fentanyl use can increase your risk of overdose, especially if you do not regularly use opioids. Fentanyl has been found in many different drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, ketamine and pills from nonmedical sources. Anyone who uses drugs that may contain fentanyl, even occasionally, may be at risk of overdose. To prevent an overdose, avoid using alone and take turns, start with a small dose and go slowly, keep Naloxone ready and on hand, avoid mixing drugs, and test your drugs using fentanyl test strips.”
This kind of guide on one of our nation’s largest city’s public health website normalizes this behavior and does nothing to reverse the drug use epidemic.
The city’s normalizing this kind of drug use will inevitably lead to more homelessness and more crimes committed by addicts to support their drug habit.
Now, New York and other cities are providing a “sanctuary” for drug users that imperil public health and the long-term welfare of drug users and their family members.
Of course, this is all happening as Biden has dismantled the borders of the United States, allowing for the flow of massive quantities of deadly narcotics.
One major reason that drugs are being smuggled in such huge quantities into our country is simply the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand.
Open borders facilitate the flow of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States and local governments like New York City are helping to drive up and not tamp down the demand.
All of this means that this ill-conceived leftist scheme is bad, not just for cities where it is instituted but for the ripple effect nationwide, and a different approach is sorely needed.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
