When the government first implement the war on drugs, many people felt certain it would help to cure an increased craving for illicit substances in America. It proved to be a colossal failure. One contributing factor is that the drug dealers were often doctors and pharmaceutical companies: legitimate professionals and businesses that misled patients about the addictive qualities of the drugs they prescribed.
Since then, the problem has continued to worsen and dealers from all walks of life have stepped up to fill the growing need. As overdoses spike, however, authorities have doubled down on efforts to seize illicit drugs.
Feds targeting the San Francisco area
Major cities are often trafficking meccas for drugs and San Francisco is one such example. In August 2019, ABC7 News reported that the federal government began to target the Tenderloin District, which is one such drug hotbed in the Golden State.
The federal government lent its resources to the effort, which includes law enforcement agencies, assistant US attorneys and federal prosecutors. By the time the article got published, the task force had already arrested 32 alleged traffickers.
Drug seizures on the rise
NPR reports that all across America, seizures are on the rise. While it may reflect greater effort on the part of law enforcement agencies, it might also just reflect the effect of probability caused by more traffickers. If there are more people running the market, there are more breadcrumbs for police officers to follow.
The increase did not begin in 2019 either. It started in 2018 when methamphetamine seizures climbed from 28,046 kg in total to a whopping 67,757. Cocaine and prescription meds have also seen a spike in seizures.
Several states have now legalized the use of recreational marijuana, but opioids create a much different level of intoxication. As a result, many people who have become dependent on those substances continue to feed the demand.
