The latest data from the Center for Disease Control shows that Ohio lost another 4,200 citizens to fentanyl overdose deaths in 2022. That brings Ohio’s fentanyl death toll to nearly 50,000, with America surpassing 1.1 million over the last decade. That total if it was a city in Ohio would be the 18th largest city just ahead of Newark and behind Middleton. Imagine the secondary and tertiary impacts of those deaths on the children, parents, and communities affected by those 50,000 untimely deaths.
As I’ve discussed, the fentanyl killing more Americans than any war we’ve fought in our history, including the Civil War, comes from chemicals made in China that are sent to the Mexican drug cartels who make the potent drug coarsening through the veins of Main Street America. The Mexican drug cartels then bring the deadly fentanyl across our southern border made egregiously porous by President Joe Biden in his drive to grow future Democrat voter rolls. Since we know the Communist Chinese government has created an uber-surveillance state in China, there is little doubt that they know exactly who is making the fentanyl chemicals for the Mexican drug cartels and where those chemicals are being made in China. Yet, not only does the Chinese government do nothing to stop them, but it also has the gall to lecture America about our drug problems. Likewise, the corrupt Mexican government also does nothing to stop the Mexican drug cartels from making the fentanyl and getting it over the southern border to America.
In July 2017, as part of my monthly column for U.S. News and World Reports, I wrote “To Solve the Opioid Crisis, Go to War” where I stated:
Do we need to go to war with Mexico to ultimately win the war against opioids and other death drugs? By "go to war," I mean a formal declaration of war by Congress against Mexico in which we use the full force of our military might to destroy the cartels, the poppy fields and all elements of the drug trade. Ideally, as our fight is not with the Mexican government, its military or its people, which try to weaken the cartels, we would try to partner with those entities against the cartels, much as we partnered with the South Vietnamese government and military against the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army.
It sounds crazy, I know – unless you acknowledge we are already fighting a war with Mexico.
I was the lone voice back in 2017 making this vital point. I then noted:
Since the first al-Qaida terrorist attack in Yemen in 1992, fewer than 5,000 Americans have died in terrorist attacks, with many of the deaths occurring on Sept. 11, 2001. In response to terrorist attacks, we waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and spent hundreds of billions of dollars on external and internal security measures to detect and to prevent future attacks.
If we did all of that in response to radical Islamic terrorism, why is it so crazy to consider using our military power to defeat the Mexican drug cartels which have inflicted far more death, mayhem and costs on America than al-Qaida and the Islamic State group combined? Unlike terrorists living in far-off places, halfway around the globe, the Mexican drug cartels are operating right next door and within our communities, pushing enormous amounts of heroin, meth and other death drugs across the southern border and into the veins of our communities.
Instead of heeding my call to action, America’s leaders got us enmeshed in yet another war over in Ukraine with far fewer national security implications than the war being waged against us by the Mexican drug cartels. Whatever Russia is doing in Ukraine, it hasn’t killed over 1,000,000 Americans.
Because of this failure by our elected officials, I have made holding China and Mexico accountable for their acts and omissions as a key agenda in my run for Ohio governor in 2026. Just as we did with Saudi Arabia vis-a-vis the 9/11 terrorist attack, we must limit the immunity of those two countries so victims, including the state of Ohio, of their acts and omissions can seek redress for the damages we have suffered.
We also must use our military to destroy the Mexican drug cartels, secure the border, and use all law enforcement and judicial resources to find and to eliminate anyone involved in their drug and human trafficking operations in America. I am happy to report that in addition to Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Tex.), Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) have heeded my call and filed legislation to use military force in Mexico.
On Tuesday, I had a great time in Miami County with a good group of Republicans talking about my agenda and answering their questions about the future of Ohio. For upcoming speeches, see the pictures below.
Finally, listen to my weekly interview on the Bruce Hooley Show on The Answer. This week we discussed Gov. Mike DeWine’s poppycock claim that the DeWine-Husted Administration is America’s most pro-child administration in America, as their voices have been utterly AWOL on so many issues like universal school choice, keeping woke ideology out of the classroom, protecting girls in bathrooms and on sports pitches, and countless other top issues other governors and lieutenant governors have used their voices to advance legislation.
We also talked about how Ohio is doing re job growth and how to get accountability in Washington, D.C., for what the Democrats, media, and federal agencies did to President Donald Trump and his team. Enjoy the interview when you have time to listen to it this weekend.
It Is Time to Fight the Fentanyl War In Mexico