(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

Jim Justice for Senate? Maybe that’s the reason for this show of charging state taxpayers to send the West Virginia National Guard to the Texas border to “stop illegals bringing drugs to our kids.”

Opioids are a huge problem for West Virginia. Fentanyl is the worst. So something needs to be done. But to burden the citizens of one of the poorest states with costs of sending troops to Texas to stop illegal immigrants is ridiculous.

Did you know 83% of fentanyl trafficking in 2021 was by U.S. citizens? That’s 10x compared to illegals. Our National Guard won’t be targeting them. 90% of fentanyl traffic comes through legal crossing points, not illegal routes. Legal crossings are already covered by U.S. Customs.

Just 2 out of 10,000 of illegal crossings possessed fentanyl in 2021. You might as well fish in a mud puddle.

If the National Guard is expensive and likely to have zero effect, why send them? Jim Justice for Senate, that’s why. He needs to create a bogeyman so he can be the hero.

By demonizing illegal immigrants as a tidal wave of drug smugglers and sending troops, he’s hoping to pound his chest and say he’s doing something in the war on drugs. But don’t buy what he’s selling.

There are three ways to combat illegal drugs in West Virginia.

Address demand by improving economic opportunities for residents and pull them out of poverty and the opioid cycle, while also boosting mental health services.

Address supply by working with the federal government to boost state police coverage and make West Virginia less attractive to smugglers and producers.

Make marijuana legal for recreational use (regulate it) to clear out the court system and police departments of the huge number of minor possession cases so they can address more serious drug crimes.

Justice is using proven scare tactics and misinformation to make you think he’s a hero. You should show him Babydog’s behind.

Eric Thacker

Parkersburg