Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro visited one of America’s forgotten cities devastated by the fentanyl crisis to speak with family members of people who have died from drug overdoses in the latest episode of his docu-series, “The Divided States of Biden.”
In the episode, Shapiro traveled to Camden, New Jersey, a city that has been completely ravaged by drugs, overdose deaths, and homelessness. He spoke with those who have been negatively impacted and why advocates are demanding that the Biden administration do more to fight the spread of fentanyl throughout America.
“In the heart of America’s towns and cities, a silent crisis brews, one that knows no boundaries, spares no community, and leaves a trail of devastation in its wake,” Shapiro said. “The fentanyl crisis has become America’s deadliest drug epidemic, claiming lives with unprecedented potency and stealth. Behind the statistics lie the real stories of loss and despair, and a growing sense of abandonment by those who know that Joe Biden and his administration have not done nearly enough to protect American citizens.”
China sends it to Mexico. The Mexican drug cartels move it across our border. 100,000+ Americans die of fentanyl poisoning every year – it kills more Americans 18-45 than any other cause. This is the on-the-ground story of America’s silent epidemic – an act of war against the… pic.twitter.com/nml57CtMJw
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 25, 2024
The episode “Fentanyl: America’s Silent Epidemic” features interviews with advocates, lawmakers, and investigators who have dug into the worsening crisis. It was released on Sunday on DailyWire+.
Fentanyl overdoses have skyrocketed in recent years, rising from just 3,000 in 2013 to more than 73,000 in 2022. Death by fentanyl overdose is, by many estimates, the leading cause of death for those ages 18 to 45. To get a firsthand look at the crisis, Shapiro went to Kensington Avenue in Camden, where drug use is rampant and out in the open. Shapiro said that once someone enters the area, “all hell breaks loose.”
“It’s just miles of drug addicts, people who are missing limbs and toes and fingers,” Shapiro said. “You’re seeing people who are bent over at the waist because the drugs have done such horrific things to their body they’re not capable of standing up straight. It looks like something out of ‘The Walking Dead.’”
WATCH: Fentanyl: America’s Silent Epidemic
During the episode, Shapiro spoke with several women who lost family members to drug overdoses. They are now advocates for cracking down on those who distribute illicit drugs and called on the Biden administration to do more to shut down the flow of drugs coming over the U.S. southern border.
April Babcock, whose son Austen died of fentanyl poisoning, said Biden’s border policies are a “punch” to her face.
“I thought the sitting president is supposed to put Americans first,” she told Shapiro. “He has given operational control to the Mexican cartels. That’s exactly what he’s done.”
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Shapiro agreed, saying that decisive action was needed to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border.
“It’s simply not in China’s and Mexico’s interest to stop the fentanyl trafficking, which means that absent strong American action, nothing is going to get done,” Shapiro said. “Solutions like increased funding for detection technology at our border or say, you know, shutting down the border itself haven’t been tried either. All of this information leads to the same conclusion: Joe Biden is unserious about fentanyl, and people are dying in unprecedented numbers because of it.”