- Barr noted, however, that simply looking at the number of Americans killed from drug overdoses does not reflect the full extent of the damage caused by the cartels.
- “A 2017 analysis, accounting for the costs of healthcare, criminal justice, lost productivity and social and family services, estimated that the total cost of America’s drug epidemic was more than $1 trillion annually, or 5% of gross domestic product,” he wrote.
- “Given the explosion in illicit drug deaths since then, this estimate now seems conservative.”
