There’s a problem that’s turning one staunch Democrat against President Joe Biden as a leader and Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
Dawn Allen said her enthusiasm for Joe Biden during the last election cycle “was probably greater than any other president who’s ever run.”
But that was before her son Benjamin died of a fentanyl overdose last year, aged just 22.
She has grown increasingly frustrated by what she sees as Biden’s lackadaisical approach to the opioid crisis, to the point where she now says she won’t vote for a Democrat. She has gone from being a staunch door-knocker to someone much more in line with former President Donald Trump, the candidate who is much more vocal about fentanyl.
“It feels like a really bad breakup,” said the 47-year-old mother of three. NBC from her home in a Chicago suburb. “I’m really, really hurt.”
Dawn Allen is pictured with her son Benjamin, who died last year at age 22 from a fentanyl overdose.
Allen has gone from a loyal, door-knocking Democrat to someone much more in line with former President Donald Trump, the candidate who is much more vocal about fentanyl.
Allen is part of a group of families who have lost relatives to opioids and are pushing government officials to do more to address an epidemic that has killed More than 81,000 people last year alone.
Many in that group say Trump’s tough talk about stemming the flow of drugs into the United States sounds familiar.
This is despite the fact that during Trump’s four years as president, opioid deaths increased by 47 percent, according to CDC data.
In 2017, 47,600 people died from opioid overdoses, and in 2020, Trump’s last full year in office, more than 70,000 died.
Fentanyl deaths rose further during Trump’s tenure.
Andrea Thomas, who lost a daughter in 2018 and has become a leader in the movement, told NBC that fentanyl awareness advocates “lean right, no doubt.”
“Our American government is almost complicit, and now that there is an unlimited supply of this poison here it is an indication of stockpiling,” he said.
In contrast, at the Republican convention in July, a mother died of an accidental fentanyl overdose. Anne Funder, pictured, gave a moving speech in memory of her son Weston
By contrast, the Democratic National Convention never had a prime-time speaker even mention the opioid crisis, let alone fentanyl specifically.
Republicans are seizing on the energy of this movement — which put up signs raising awareness about the fentanyl crisis outside the Democratic National Convention last month — and have decided to make it a central campaign issue.
The DNC has never had a primetime speaker even mention the opioid crisis, let alone fentanyl specifically.
In contrast, the Republican convention in July featured a mother whose 15-year-old son died of an accidental fentanyl overdose.
Anne Funder blamed Democrats for her son Weston’s death.
“I hold Joe Biden, Kamala Harris (the border czar), Gavin Newsom (what a joke) and every Democrat who supports open borders responsible for my son’s death,” she told the crowd at the Republican National Convention.
Trump himself speaks frequently about fentanyl, while Harris has remained largely silent on the issue.
Pictured: A billboard in Chicago that was put up during the Democratic National Convention to pressure Democrats to take the issue seriously.
Trump has called for expanding the death penalty for drug traffickers, using the military to attack Mexican cartels and drastically reducing border crossings to stop drug smuggling.
“We’re going to dismantle the gangs, the savage criminal networks and the bloodthirsty cartels. And we’re going to stop fentanyl,” Trump said during a recent campaign appearance in Michigan.
Trump has also called for expanding the death penalty for drug traffickers, using the military to attack Mexican cartels and drastically reducing border crossings to stop drug smuggling.
Experts have sought to push back against Trump’s proposals to fix the problem, with some saying that most fentanyl is smuggled in by Americans through legal entry points.
TO DEA Report As of 2020, when Trump was still president, he said China was “the primary source” of fentanyl and related substances, not Mexico.
Fentanyl activists, however, say Trump is at least drawing attention to the issue, while Biden is not.
Allen, who lost his son Benjamin last year, has his photo on the wall.
Allen said she and other parents feel unseen and unheard by the Biden administration.
“We don’t feel seen, we don’t feel heard,” Allen said.
“I’m surprised that someone hasn’t realized or figured out that this is a huge population of people and if we think they’re going to respond to this and do something about it, they could easily win our favor.”
The Biden administration responded by saying it has met with hundreds of families affected by opioids, made historic investments in treatment and seized record amounts of fentanyl at the border.
But there’s no getting around the fact that Biden oversaw a massive surge in fentanyl deaths.
In 2021, during Biden’s first year in office, when many Americans were confined to their homes during the pandemic, fentanyl deaths rose 23 percent to more than 70,000.
In 2019, Trump succeeded in persuading China — long the largest source of fentanyl smuggling via international mail — to regulate production of the drug.
But Mexican cartels adapted and began importing ingredients from China to make fentanyl pills from scratch.
Fentanyl is often included as a filler in illegal drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine. It usually comes in pill form.
Experts say the rise in fentanyl deaths since then is a direct result of this, as the incredibly powerful substance is used in nearly all illegal drugs and counterfeit pills.
This means that if a person believes they are purchasing cocaine, methamphetamine, or Percocet, they may unknowingly ingest a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Biden has imposed sanctions on Chinese manufacturers of chemicals used in fentanyl, but that has not stopped the flow to Mexico.
Biden has also made Narcan, a drug that reverses overdoses, more widely available.
Experts say this likely contributed to a 2 percent decline in fentanyl deaths last year.
April Babcock, who lost a son in 2019 and started an advocacy organization, said she’s glad Narcan helped her, but she doesn’t think it’s the end of everything.
“We’re not going to Narcan our way out of this,” Babcock said.
Babcock said the parents of her organization, Lost Voices of Fentanyl, have already set a date for their rally in Washington, D.C., in 2025.
“Whoever takes that position, we’re going to be very demanding,” he said. “Even if it’s Trump.”
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