Fentanyl Awareness Week Arrives And It Couldn't Get Here Soon Enough; Scourge Has Reshaped ABQ; Most Dangerous Of All Drugs Is Both Derided And Romanticized As Addiction And Death Befall Too Many

There's no better example than this drink menu from an ABQ Mexican restaurant sent to us by a reader that demonstrates how fentanyl and the drug culture have been woven into the very fabric of the state's largest city. 

The drink, Los Amigos Del Chapo, is named after "El Chapo," "a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world."

The always refreshing El Senor De Los Cielos is inspired by "an American crime drama television series. It premiered on Telemundo in 2013. The series is based on the life and work of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the former leader of the Juarez Cartel. It stars Rafael Amaya as the titular character, Aurelio Casillas."

And the must-have El Solitario also gets its title from another drug lord. 

Yep. Fentanyl Awareness Week, sponsored by Bernalillo County, couldn't get here soon enough. There are numerous workshops, speakers and other events going on--all worthwhile. 

The pervasiveness of fentanyl, which has the Governor ordering wastewater near city schools checked for the drug and crime rates remaining stubbornly high, has our contributing reader saying:

El Chapo 

Maybe we should have the city leaders sit down with the cartels at that restaurant, order some Los Amigos del Chapo and discuss the homeless problem (and other issues) plaguing our city right now. Because no matter what law enforcement has ever done to them, these drug cartels never disappear and they seem to be thriving. (Sarcasm? Maybe) I don’t have any answer for the thirst this nation has for abusing drugs and alcohol, but it’s time we recognize that cartels are not flying under the radar anymore. They are right out in the open and supported by the community (by buying the drugs or celebrating the cartels with drink orders).

Eliminating the drug trade is an impossibility but cutting demand for the most dangerous drug and developing a first class behavioral health system is not out of the question. 

That's why this space strongly advocated--along with award winning journalist Ted Alcorn--for an increase in the state tax on alcohol as deaths from that drug soar to a record high. It nearly made it through but died at the last minute. Passage would have shown that increasing the price would have reduced the demand-for alcohol and cut that death rate. 

Same with fentanyl. In that case it's more and better law enforcement intervention needed to diminish the supply, raise the price and discourage the use. They are making some progress but the OD deaths and drug-related murder rates remain too high. 

Meanwhile . . .

State Police say they’ve cracked down on suspected impaired driving over the last weekend. Patrolling Albuquerque, they made 22 arrests over four days. 

Wouldn't some of that manpower be better deployed at this point in our history by seeking out loads of fentanyl being raced up the interstate from Mexico? 

CYFD SUCKS

It's true. CYFD sucks. We can't be objective anymore. The news:

Q. How many people does CYFD need department wide? 

A. CYFD has almost 600 vacancies department wide. 

Q. How many vacancies are there in Protective Services? 

 

A. Upwards of 250.

Q. Any other efforts planned around recruiting? 

A. CYFD continues to recruit qualified staff. In addition to our rapid hire, we currently have 145 posted on the SPO website and are exploring additional hiring events. 

The LFC says child abuse and neglect cases are on pace to increase more than 50 percent over last year.  

How about a national search offering CYFD jobs with high pay and benefits aimed at qualified applicants? Then CYFD might not suck. 

FOLLOWING THE MONEY (CONT.)

In a first draft Tuesday we reported that ABQ City Councilor Brook Bassan had not received outside financial help in her race against Dem Abby Foster. Of course, she has. Major dollars have been spent on her behalf by the real-estate backed PAC--HELP ABQ. Foster has received significant outside support from progressive groups and has also raised over $80,000 for her campaign. Bassan took $40,000 in public financing and is not raising funds. That Help ABQ PAC now reports raising $138,000 with consultants saying it is headed toward the $200K mark. 

Also Tuesday, we briefly misidentified District 2 Council candidate Joaquin Baca as Joaquin Romero. Were we thinking of former downtown ABQ area state Senator Richard Romero? Probably. 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023