Narcan

Over the weekend, I discovered that my kids, nieces, and many of their friends keep Narcan at their homes and in their bags. It should come as no surprise how Americans love their vices.

This is not because their peers are engaging in heroin, but it is because of the Fentanyl that is laced into illegal drugs. As each state passes laws making marijuana legal, farms adhere to the state rules and regulations that sell their wares to legal dispensaries. The revenue driven by each state hits the gas when this takes place. Even my friend noted this past weekend, “I didn’t realize how many of my friends do gummies, etc!”.

Most NYers have no idea that the vast majority (highlighting vast) of dispensaries in NYC are illegal. Why is the state not aggressively closing down the illegal dispensaries? At what point will one of these illegal dispensaries find themselves selling a product that has been cut with Fentanyl? Do they know where their products are coming from?

Why is the Federal Government not passing a banking law or rolling back 280E so that each state can legally allow this new industry to flourish? Instead, they are focusing on stopping the Fentanyl trade. Have they not learned from the past that this angle doesn’t work? Look at the past “war on drugs” and what a tremendous loss leader that was. Why not support what is legal, and embrace what is happening? The consumers will make intelligent decisions knowing that buying legally means that whatever they consume has been approved by the state’s regulators and is safe. I find comfort in that, and I know the customers at Gotham certainly do.

I wonder what an elected official would think if they discovered, as I did, that an entire generation is walking around with Narcan for fear that one of their friends ingests something that causes them to overdose or, worse, die. Isn’t it time to pay attention to the data? Americans want legal drugs.

This new industry will hire countless people, create opportunities and pay taxes. Isn’t that what all good businesses should be doing? Instead, the Government is forcing all of us to compete with the illegal market and keep Narcan handy.

This is not a reality that any of us should have to live in. It scares the shit out of me.