Our nation is at a moment of crisis — one we’ve seen firsthand with former leaders of our nation’s counter-drug efforts.

It’s no secret that the U.S. is in the midst of a substance use epidemic unlike any the country has seen before. Overdoses are on the rise as more potent and lethal drugs are smuggled into our country and sold everywhere from inner cities to our most rural communities .

Ongoing chaos at our southern border has allowed cartels to push unprecedented amounts of illicit drugs into the U.S. The result is that overdose deaths now stand at an unprecedented high.

In 2021, over 107,000 Americans died of a drug overdose. That translates to one death every five minutes — a dark record that may be broken this year as increasing numbers of friends, family, and loved ones sadly lose their battles with addiction.

The main driver of the staggering spike in drug-related deaths is illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, which have dominated the illegal drug market in recent years.

Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams (the equivalent of a few grains of sand) can be fatal. And it’s flowing into the U.S. in record amounts through Mexican drug cartels . Almost all of the illicit fentanyl poisoning our communities comes in from Mexico with assistance from China , which is the source of the precursor chemicals necessary for fentanyl production.

To save American lives, it’s imperative to cut off the fentanyl supply at its source.

Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement fight drug traffickers every day, but they’re outnumbered. Every 24 hours, more than 200,000 cars pass through our southern border, but fewer than 5% of vehicles are screened for illegal drugs or weapons. It is estimated that the cartels are successful in their smuggling efforts 95% of the time.

Yet there is hope: new technologies and pending legislation could empower border agents like never before, preventing more illegal drugs from entering our country.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has developed “non-intrusive inspection technology” to monitor ports of entry. X-rays produce high-quality images that scan vehicles for suspicious anomalies. Technology such as this is crucial to stopping the drug crisis in America. The results are real .

Customs and Border Protection is continuously working to create new ways to improve security at U.S. ports of entry, and now Congress has entered the conversation.

In July, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act, legislation that would ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is effectively using its resources to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. It also ensures that the DHS has the data, information, and tools it needs to prevent illegal drugs from penetrating our southern border.

The Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act would dial up the heat on the drug cartels and narcoterrorists poisoning Americans. It allows Congress to provide DHS and CBP with crucial assistance to quash the illicit substances making their way from the southern border to every community in America.

Another bipartisan bill, the Non-Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act, improves the screening of vehicles at ports of entry. The bill gives CBP a goal to scan 40% of passenger vehicles and 90% of commercial vehicles. At the end of the year, CBP would be required to brief congressional committees on its ultimate progress toward a 100% screening rate.

Such legislation is an essential part of combating dangerous narcotics. It’s not a silver bullet or quick fix to the drug crisis in America, but it does take meaningful steps forward to stop drugs from infiltrating our country.

Of course, even with new technologies and laws, there’s still a lot of work to be done. But pushing past the gridlock and partisan politics to support initiatives and technology that will end the drug epidemic is a good first step.

Jim Carroll served as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (2019 – 2021). Uttam Dhillon is the former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (2018-2020). Both are principals at Michael Best Advisors .