The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Next month, political conditions could be right to take meaningful steps to resolve the fentanyl crisis.
When newly elected state officials are sworn in, we’ll have a slim Republican majority in the state Legislature, a Democratic governor, and hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds set aside for border security. Let’s figure out a compromise so we spend that money wisely.
So far, our approach has been misguided. Gov. Doug Ducey spent about $90 million on a border wall made of shipping containers in Cochise County. That allowed him to play the role of righteous rebel battling the feckless federal government, but it drained precious money away from more urgent concerns.
Our top priority should be fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that causes tens of thousands of deaths every year in the United States, far more than any other drug smuggled across the border. Most of that fentanyl is smuggled through legal ports of entry in California and Arizona, rather than through remote areas like where Ducey built the shipping container wall.
Just look at the past few weeks. While truck drivers hauled shipping containers into the San Rafael Valley for Ducey’s wall, customs officers at ports of entry in Nogales seized more than 4 million fentanyl pills.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature budgeted $335 million for border barriers and $209 million for a “border security fund.” When they take office, Republican legislators and Gov. Katie Hobbs should work out a deal to spend what’s left of that money on stopping fentanyl from being smuggled through ports of entry.
The need is clear. Customs officers at the ports can’t adequately inspect every person or vehicle. Not even close. The state should make an arrangement with Customs and Border Protection officials and buy better screening technology, pay to train more dogs to detect fentanyl, and hire more customs officers.
State officials also should wholeheartedly support the years-long effort to modernize Arizona’s ports of entry, particularly the port in downtown Nogales. It is one of the busiest in the state and long overdue for a renovation.
Such a deal might be likelier than you think. Fentanyl simply isn’t as controversial as other border-related issues, such as the political debate over immigration. Democratic and Republican politicians tend to agree that fentanyl needs to be stopped.
A deal on fentanyl would allow Hobbs and Democratic legislators to show they are serious about border security, while the fentanyl busts that would pile up would give Republican legislators something substantial to highlight in their long-running rhetorical campaign against fentanyl.
Resolving the nationwide fentanyl crisis requires more than just anti-smuggling efforts, such as better treatment for drug addiction, testing local drug supplies, and a variety of other measures. But here in Southern Arizona, I think our main contribution to the national effort will be stopping as much fentanyl as we can at the border.
With the GOP and Democrats sharing power next year, the time will be right to make a deal.
