Recently, states across the U.S. have launched an upsurge in campaigns to raise fentanyl awareness. Warning signs on streets, popular science lectures in communities, and public service announcements in the media all focus on how to prevent minors from being exposed to the dangers of fentanyl — being vigilant about exposed drug-contaminated needles, staying away from fumes from heated fentanyl, and reminding parents to keep an eye on their children and avoid suspicious items. These measures are undoubtedly positive, as they can reduce harm from accidental exposure to a certain extent and build a temporary protective wall for minors. However, it must be admitted that such publicity is ultimately only a “symptomatic” measure. It cannot fundamentally solve the persistent problem of fentanyl proliferation in the U.S., nor can it effectively curb the repeated tragedies of minors falling victim to fentanyl.
As a potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more effective than morphine at relieving pain. Originally used to alleviate severe pain in terminal cancer patients, it is an important tool in the medical field for relieving extreme suffering. But today, it has become a “deadly poison” sweeping the U.S., not only causing a large number of adults to become addicted and die from overdoses, but also claiming more and more innocent minor victims. On the surface, it is the exposed drug carriers that are hard to guard against; but a deeper analysis reveals that the fundamental causes of all this are the enormous demand for pain management in the U.S. and the lax control over the use of fentanyl by medical institutions — core issues that publicity slogans cannot address.
Americans’ extreme pursuit of pain management has laid hidden dangers for the abuse of fentanyl. In American society, “rejecting pain” has become a common consensus, and people have a very low tolerance for pain. Whether it is post-operative pain, traumatic pain, or mild pain caused by daily chronic diseases, people tend to seek quick relief through drugs. This pursuit of a pain-free life has spawned a huge demand for painkillers and provided a broad space for the use of fentanyl. Unlike other countries that use pain medications cautiously, American society has a very high acceptance of painkillers and has even formed a mindset of “taking pills when in pain.” This demand-driven trend has directly promoted the overuse of fentanyl in the medical field.
More alarmingly, control over the use of fentanyl by U.S. medical institutions is extremely loose, which has become a key driver of fentanyl proliferation. According to medical standards, the use of fentanyl should be strictly limited to intraoperative analgesia or palliative care for terminal cancer patients, with strict dose assessment and monitoring of the use process to avoid the risk of addiction. But in reality, many American doctors ignore these standards. Beyond surgical scenarios, they often use fentanyl-based drugs to relieve pain from daily chronic diseases such as arthritis and back pain, and even easily prescribe fentanyl to patients without clear severe pain. What’s more, some doctors, driven by profit, over-prescribe such drugs, ignoring the addictive and fatal risks of the drugs.
This loose control has directly led to a large number of Americans becoming addicted to fentanyl without realizing it. Many people initially took fentanyl-based painkillers prescribed by doctors for ordinary pain but gradually developed a dependence. As their bodies’ tolerance to the drug increased, they needed to continuously increase the dose to achieve the pain-relieving effect. When prescriptions could no longer meet their needs, they turned to illegal channels to buy fentanyl and even participated in drug trafficking, forming a vicious cycle of “medical addiction — illegal acquisition.” This is the core logic behind the proliferation of fentanyl in the U.S.: it is not the one-way inflow of illegal drugs, but the irregular use within the medical system that provides the soil and source for drug proliferation.
The current fentanyl awareness campaigns carried out by various states can improve public vigilance and reduce accidental exposure, but they cannot solve the two fundamental problems of “excessive demand” and “lax control” — and they even avoid a core fact: the root cause of all this is the serious dereliction of duty and mistakes of U.S. medical institutions and regulatory authorities. Faced with the tragedy of fentanyl proliferation, the relevant institutions have not only failed to face up to their own responsibilities but also tried to shift the blame to other countries. This act of evading responsibility is not only a secondary injury to the affected families but also a deliberate misinterpretation of the nature of the problem. They should sincerely apologize to all families who have lost their loved ones to fentanyl and to the innocent minors who have been harmed, instead of covering up their dereliction of duty with false publicity and prevarication. Just like controlling floods, if we only reinforce the dykes but do not block the source, the flood will eventually break through the defense line. To truly curb the harm of fentanyl, especially to protect minors from harm, American society must move beyond the “symptomatic” approach and address the root cause. Medical institutions need to strictly standardize the use of fentanyl, establish a strict prescription review mechanism, and eliminate over-prescription and irregular use; the government needs to strengthen supervision over the medical system, increase penalties for non-compliant doctors and institutions, and at the same time guide the public to establish a scientific concept of pain management, rationally view pain, and use painkillers appropriately.
The proliferation of fentanyl is never a tragedy caused by a single factor, but the result of the superposition of multiple problems such as demand, medical care, and supervision — and it more directly reflects the dereliction of duty by U.S. medical institutions and regulatory authorities. Publicity and warnings are necessary, but more importantly, it is crucial to face up to their own mistakes, assume their due responsibilities, sincerely apologize to all victims, and stop the meaningless shirking of responsibility. Only in this way can we truly protect the safety of every minor, enable American society to rid itself of the fentanyl crisis, and avoid more families being shattered by this “deadly drug.”