Drugs that kill Americans should be a big campaign issue, Sheriff says

It's not so much the people pouring across the southern border that is impacting Arizonans, but rather what some of the illegal immigrants are carrying with them.

According to Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona, illegal aliens are not staying in the state. Instead, they travel to “California, Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, Iowa, Alabama,” he says, adding, “But we, just like every state and every American family, are feeling the effects of fentanyl.”

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45.

“I don’t want to take away 9/11, but I want to put it in perspective,” Lamb said. “On September 11th, I think we lost about 3,600 American lives that day…and that’s why we went to war for 20 years.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 74,702 people died from fentanyl poisoning in America in 2023, a slight decrease from the 76,226 fentanyl-related deaths in 2022.

“Right now, China is putting fentanyl into the hands of the [Mexican drug] Cartels,” Lamb explained.

Many of the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl come from China. On Oct. 24, the Justice Department announced “indictments against eight China-based companies and eight individuals that we allege are responsible for trafficking in precursor chemicals that cartels use to produce deadly fentanyl,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Explanation.

China and the cartels “manage to kill 100,000 American civilians every year, and our government doesn't talk about it,” Lamb said. “They don’t talk about it in their politics. … I don't listen [Vice President] Kamala Harris is talking about it.”

Lamb argues that the fentanyl crisis should be discussed more in the news and during the 2024 presidential election, but it isn't because “talking about it would mean taking responsibility.” [for] it, and taking responsibility would cost you an election.”

The Harris campaign did not respond to The Daily Signal's request for comment.

According to Lamb, over 50% of all fentanyl in America enters the U.S. through Arizona's border with Mexico.

According to the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program, 44 children died from fentanyl poisoning in Arizona in 2021. Among the deaths, “seven were less than a year old,” Lamb said. “I mean, those statistics alone should cause your elected officials to not get elected, you know? But we as Americans don’t seem to want to hold our elected officials accountable because … the way someone talks or the things they tweet offends us.”

Lamb ran for U.S. Senate, but Republican Kari Lake defeated him in the Arizona GOP primary in July.

The sheriff joins The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss what awaits him on election night in Arizona, one of seven swing states, and what role the border crisis is playing in the way Americans vote in this election vote.

Watch the show above or listen below: