Let’s review solutions to the opioid crisis that the Trump administration has proposed this week. On Monday, Donald Trump proposed the death penalty for drug dealers, and also a new generation of “this is your brain on drugs” ads. “Scary” ones. And on Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, who is leading the White House’s anti-opioid efforts, made this very helpful suggestion to a group of college students:
"On our college campuses, your folks are reading the labels, they won't put any sugar in their body, they don't eat carbs anymore, and they're very, very fastidious about what goes into their body," Conway said at a youth forum hosted by the White House.
"And then you buy a street drug for $5 or $10, it's laced with fentanyl, and that's it," she continued.
"So I guess my short advice is, as somebody double your age: eat the ice cream, have the french fry, don't buy the street drug. Believe me, it all works out," Conway added, eliciting laughs from the audience.
So that’s it. The White House wants you to eat junk food and be scared by television ads … and if that stuff doesn’t work, it’s going to execute your dealer. Treatment for addiction? Nah.