Newly-elected LA DA Nathan Hochman made headlines this week with a recent fentanyl bust in Los Angeles County, in which authorities seized over 50 pounds of the drug and which is undoubtedly significant.
But the rhetoric from DA Hochman—claiming that this single seizure “could have killed, literally, every resident in LA County by itself”—is emblematic of a broader problem: fearmongering that oversimplifies the fentanyl crisis while failing to offer real solutions.
Hochman’s statement follows a familiar pattern in the war on drugs, where officials exaggerate the potential lethality of drug seizures to justify harsh enforcement tactics.
His claim that “one kilo of fentanyl can kill 500,000 people” assumes an unrealistic scenario where every microgram is distributed in lethal doses and ingested by unsuspecting victims.
While fentanyl is undeniably potent, statements like these distort the reality of drug use and policy and induce unnecessary panic among the voters.
Most fentanyl in circulation is not pure. It is often cut with other substances, meaning calculations of “potential deaths” are misleading.
Lethal doses vary significantly. Two milligrams may be deadly for someone with no opioid tolerance, but not for a person with opioid dependence.
Fentanyl overdoses are preventable. Naloxone (Narcan) can reverse opioid overdoses when administered in time, but fear-driven policies often ignore harm reduction strategies.
This kind of fear-based messaging is not new. We saw it during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, when exaggerated claims led to policies that disproportionately criminalized communities of color and fueled mass incarceration. It did not reduce drug use then, and it won’t now.
Does Tough-on-Crime Actually Work?
Authorities emphasize the size of the seizure and the prison time the accused face—up to 31 years in some cases—as if that alone will stop fentanyl trafficking. But history shows that aggressive enforcement has little effect on drug markets.
However, studies have repeatedly demonstrated that increased drug seizures do not reduce supply. The U.S. has spent decades waging war on drugs, yet fentanyl is cheaper and more available than ever. The DEA itself has admitted that interdiction efforts have done little to disrupt trafficking networks.
Harsh penalties do not deter drug trafficking. Studies show that long prison sentences have little impact on high-level dealers and virtually none on low-level distributors, who are often easily replaced.
Punitive approaches exacerbate public health crises. Criminalization pushes drug use further underground, making it harder to implement life-saving interventions like supervised consumption sites and fentanyl testing.
What Would Actually Reduce Overdose Deaths?
Instead of performative crackdowns and exaggerated claims: Los Angeles—and the country—needs a public health-driven response to the fentanyl crisis.
- Expand Access to Naloxone (Narcan): Making naloxone available in every public space, school, and first responder kit would prevent thousands of deaths annually.
- Implement Supervised Consumption Sites: These facilities, already successful in Canada and parts of the U.S., prevent overdoses and connect people with treatment.
- Provide Fentanyl Testing Strips: Giving drug users tools to detect fentanyl in their supply would reduce accidental overdoses.
- Invest in Treatment Over Incarceration: Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with methadone or buprenorphine is the gold standard for opioid addiction but remains difficult to access due to outdated regulations.
- Decriminalize Possession for Personal Use: Countries like Portugal have drastically reduced overdose deaths by treating drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal offense.
We’ve Been Here Before—Let’s Not Repeat the Mistakes
The fentanyl crisis is real and devastating. But it will not be solved with dramatic press conferences and inflated statistics. If Hochman and other officials truly want to save lives, they must move beyond outdated, tough-on-crime approaches and embrace harm reduction strategies that actually work.
Public safety is not achieved through fear—it is achieved through smart, evidence-based policy. The fentanyl crisis deserves nothing less.
