Army Bob: Opioids vs. heroin, and supply and demand

by Robert M. Traxler

“Drug overdoses have since become the leading cause of death of Americans under 50, with two-thirds of those deaths from opioids. In 2016, the crisis decreased overall life expectancy of Americans for the second consecutive year. Overall life expectancy fell from 78.7 to 78.6 years. Men were disproportionately more affected due to higher overdose death rates, with life expectancy declining from 76.3 to 76.1 years. Women’s life expectancy remained stable at 81.1 years.” — Wikipedia

Some years ago, I told a story that needs to be told again. In the 1980s while I was in command of a United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) unit in Korea, we found ourselves involved in an international dispute between Japan and South Korea.

Methamphetamine, not yet a drug of choice in the U.S., a drug invented by a Japanese chemist in the 1930s and widely used by the Imperial military during World War II, was being illegally produced in South Korea and sold in Japan. The Japanese government demanded that the Koreans stop the manufacture of the drug; the Koreans were less than responsive. Korea and Japan are traditional adversaries and none of the meth was sold in Korea, so they did not see why they need to spend time and treasure to stop it. Richard “Dixie” Walker, the American Ambassador to South Korea, went to the Commander in Chief of United Nations Forces in South Korea and told him to do something, and that filtered down to us.

They used a premise that some of the drugs were being used by American or Allied forces, although none of the mandatory urine testing proved that. But we were in President Reagan’s War on Drugs, so we went to work. The South Korean National Police were not willing to help until we told them that millions in untraceable cash could be seized and we could not retain it, so they would need to seize it and account for it. The National Police were suddenly extremely helpful.

We worked long and hard, and in a year, the drugs just dried up; no meth labs could be found. Informants coming up with nothing, good news, right? I called the FBI legate in Japan, who said the meth was cheaper and more prevalent

than ever in Japan, but it was being produced in Taiwan and later North Korea. The life lesson learned is that supply and demand can’t be stopped; with billions to be made in illegal drugs, someone will fill a need and get rich or dead in the process.

The opioid epidemic is a classic example; it is politically correct to blame American doctors and pharmaceutical industry for the explosion, but quite frankly I was puzzled as to how. During two major surgeries and an ongoing battle with cancer, I was prescribed opioids for pain. I never needed the entire amount prescribed, but the leftovers were few, not enough to amount to a few days’ supply for an addicted person. So, with an epidemic number of addicted Americans, some 20 million, where do the drugs come from? Enter the law of supply and demand; the drug dealers, primarily in Mexico and South America, reacted to market forces and are producing opioids by the train load.

Heroin, an opioid cheaper and easier to produce than pharmaceutical grade drugs, is surprisingly a smaller part of the addiction problem. According to the National Society of Addiction Medicine, 29% of the overdose deaths in 2016, nearly 12,000, came from heroin; the remaining 40,000 plus came from other opioids.

Is there an answer to the opioid deaths? The liberal use of NARCAN to stop the effects of an overdose has thankfully saved lives, lots of lives, but it also has made opioid use more acceptable and safe. So, the truth is that if we demand opioids and billions are to made filling the demand, no law enforcement, religious or educational program will stop the undeniable power of supply and demand. Americans will continue to die in ever increasing numbers and drug dealers will continue to get rich.