by WorldTribune Staff, March 20, 2018
Building the border wall and ending sanctuary cities are crucial in the effort to end the opioid crisis in the United States, President Donald Trump said on March 19.
“Ninety percent of the heroin in America comes from our southern border, where eventually the Democrats will agree with us, and we’ll build the wall to keep the damn drugs out,” Trump said during an event at Manchester Community College in New Hampshire.
Trump noted that 116 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, adding that the death rate in New Hampshire is twice the national average.
“Whether you are a dealer or doctor or trafficker or a manufacturer, if you break the law and illegally peddle these deadly poisons, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable,” Trump said.
“Failure is not an option,” he added. “Addiction is not our future.”
Trump also called on Congress to block funds for sanctuary cities.
“Ending sanctuary cities is crucial to stopping the drug addiction crisis,” Trump said.
Trump’s plan to combat the crisis also calls for expanded research into less-addictive pain killers and efforts to reduce the over-prescribing of opioids.
“We will liberate our country from this crisis,” Trump said. “And we will raise a drug-free generation of children.”
The president called for some drug traffickers to face the death penalty.
“In 2017, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] arrested criminal aliens with 76,000 charges and convictions for dangerous drug crimes,” Trump said. “If we don’t get tough on the drug dealers, we’re wasting our time.”
An official with the Justice Department noted that “under current law, the federal death penalty is available for several limited drug-related offenses – for example through violations of the ‘drug kingpin’ provisions in 18 USC 3591(b) and 21 USC 848(e).”
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