In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has waged war on suspected drug smugglers in the waters off Venezuela, blowing up boats of what he calls “narco-terrorists”—people accused of bringing fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States.
These military strikes have drawn deserved condemnation. First, President Donald Trump’s extrajudicial killing is illegal and bypasses the authority of Congress to declare war. Furthermore, Venezuela is not a major producer of fentanyl, nor is there any evidence that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs.
Since returning to office in January, Trump and his team have repeatedly abandoned the norms of governing in order to implement their own agendas. As someone who has witnessed the reality of the “War on Drugs” from inside the prison system, my concern is that the administration may be planning something more insidious.
Most of the illegal fentanyl in the United States is produced in China and smuggled into the United States after being refined in labs in Mexico. Why, then, is the Trump Administration targeting Venezuela?
One suspected motivation is so-called regime change. Trump has declared the left-leaning government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a “terrorist organization.” The Trump Administration has confirmed authorizing CIA personnel in Venezuela, which indicates that they are seeking to disrupt, or even overthrow, Maduro’s government.
Venezuela is also one of the most oil rich countries in the world, and Maduro has accused the Trump Administration of wanting to seize the country’s assets for itself.
All of this is deeply troubling. Whenever the United States has attempted regime change in other countries in years past, it has largely failed. And whenever we have waged a war against another country with the pretense of drugs, it has spilled over into the lives of Americans.
The so-called war on drugs has taken many iterations. In 1971, President Richard Nixon popularized the term after U.S. servicemen returning from Vietnam were addicted to heroin at an alarming rate. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan framed substance abuse as the nation’s number-one problem. Both administrations enacted harsh policies and mandatory sentencing for drug offenses, which helped push America’s prison population to record highs.
In my nine years of incarceration for murder, I’ve come across countless men who have drug convictions, some of whom are serving sentences harsher than my nineteen-years-to-life. From 2021 through 2024, I was a coordinator and peer facilitator for Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education, which addresses substance use disorder. I have seen firsthand the damage the war on drugs has done to individuals and their families.
Efforts have been made in recent years to repair the damage the war on drugs inflicted on U.S. communities. Diversion programs and even legislation like the First Step Act, signed by Trump during his first term, have sought to right the wrongs of prior administrations.
But Trump 2.0 has been more unhinged. He’s weaponized the Department of Justice. He’s ignored the due process of those protected by the Constitution. American children have been swept up in immigration raids. Communities of color have been disproportionately targeted. Peaceful Americans such as clergymen and elected officials have been gassed and assaulted.
The administration has repeatedly shown that it will use military force to enact its misguided plans. If suspected drug trafficking is now an offense worthy of a deadly drone strike, Americans accused of nonviolent drug offenses could be severely punished.
Drug overdoses and fentanyl are unquestionably a problem in our country. But, as we’ve seen in the past few decades, these numbers don’t decrease because vulnerable populations are targeted and given draconian prison sentences.
Instead of parading videos of missile strikes on suspected smuggler boats, the Trump Administration should be touting harm reduction programs, including treatment for millions of Americans suffering from opioid addiction caused by pharmaceutical companies.
We as Americans need to voice our dissent. We do not want the federal government and military further targeting innocent civilians. We do not want a return to senseless drug policies that disproportionately target communities of color. We do not want a war on drugs to overshadow Americans who are themselves suffering from the drugs.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.