A WAR AND DRUGS

Drug overdoses take about 100,000 American lives each year. President Donald Trump has claimed each of his airstrikes on 35 Venezuelan boats saved at least 25,000 lives by targeting trafficking, which should put us eight years ahead. Except no evidence of any drug cargo has been revealed. And Venezuela is not a major transit point for fentanyl, which causes most overdoses.

- BY CHARLES LEBARON

Trump in the Oval Office on Dec. 15, 2025, with an Executive Order declaring fentanyl a "weapon of mass destruction"

The small boats, many traditionally used for fishing, were taken out by what Trump called the “greatest armada” in the history of the western hemisphere, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, 10 other warships, 70 aircraft, a nuclear submarine, and 15,000 members of the armed forces.

Then on Jan. 3, “Operation Absolute Resolve” captured the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife so they could face drug-trafficking charges. After announcing that the U.S. would take over Venezuelan oil operations and “run” the country, Trump issued stern warnings to other nations across the globe that similar operations could be launched against them, presumably as “narco-terrorists.”

Yet there is one topic about which those who study drugs agree: it is functionally impossible to reduce overdoses solely by intervening on the supply of drugs without a concomitant reduction in demand.