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Posted by Joshua Scheer
The Trump administration’s assault on Venezuela — marketed under the Orwellian banner of Operation Absolute Resolve — has been sold to the public as a heroic strike against the U.S. overdose crisis. The White House claims that kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro and his wife somehow “saved 25,000 American lives,” a statistic so mathematically absurd it collapses under basic scientific scrutiny.
Dr. Charles LeBaron, a former CDC medical epidemiologist with nearly three decades inside the agency, joins us to dismantle this narrative. LeBaron explains that Venezuela plays virtually no role in the U.S. opioid supply — a fact confirmed by both the United Nations and the DEA. The real drivers of overdose deaths are illicit synthetic opioids like fentanyl, largely produced in Mexico using Chinese precursor chemicals and trafficked through official U.S. ports of entry, not through Caracas.
But the deeper crisis, LeBaron warns, is unfolding inside our own borders. While deploying naval task forces to the Caribbean, the Trump administration has simultaneously gutted the very institutions that were finally beginning to reduce overdose deaths. Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., addiction research, treatment infrastructure, and CDC overdose monitoring have been systematically dismantled — even after the country saw a historic 20% drop in overdose deaths in 2024.
LeBaron describes a government waging a “war on science” at the precise moment when evidence‑based treatment, data transparency, and public‑health capacity are most needed. He also breaks down the drug‑bust paradox — the well‑documented phenomenon where cracking down on supply actually increases overdoses by pushing desperate users toward more unpredictable and lethal drugs.
We’re discussing Dr. Charles LeBaron’s op-ed in Time Magazine, “Trump’s Venezuela Takeover Won’t Stop Overdoses in the U.S.” — a powerful critique of the administration’s drug war theatrics and its assault on addiction science.
Discussion Highlights
Operation Absolute Resolve is political theater — the claim that kidnapping Maduro “saved 25,000 American lives” collapses under basic scientific scrutiny.
Venezuela plays no role in the U.S. opioid supply, confirmed by the U.N. and DEA, making the administration’s narrative a manufactured justification.
The real drivers of overdose deaths are synthetic opioids like fentanyl, produced in Mexico from Chinese precursor chemicals and trafficked through official U.S. ports of entry.
Supply‑side crackdowns backfire, triggering the drug‑bust paradox where overdoses spike after dealers are arrested and users turn to more dangerous sources.
The administration is dismantling addiction science, slashing SAMHSA, NIDA, and CDC overdose‑monitoring capacity in a sweeping war on public health infrastructure.
Overdose deaths had dropped 20% in 2024, the first sustained decline in more than 25 years — yet the very programs responsible were defunded or eliminated.
Narcan distribution was one of the few proven successes, with 20 million free doses saving lives at roughly $25 per reversal.
The CDC’s monitoring system has been blinded, leaving the country without up‑to‑date overdose data — a dangerous loss of situational awareness.
Fentanyl’s potency makes the crisis uniquely lethal, and even stronger analogs like carfentanil pose an escalating threat.
The overdose epidemic remains the leading killer of Americans 18–44, yet it’s repeatedly overshadowed by political distractions.
Military action in Venezuela cannot reduce overdoses, while dismantling treatment and research guarantees more preventable deaths.
LeBaron’s book, Greed to Do Good, exposes the CDC’s failures, offering a rare insider account of how policy missteps deepened the epidemic.
About Dr. LeBaron’s book Greed to Do Good: The Untold Story of the CDC’s Disastrous War on Opioids:
In a time when overdose deaths are the leading killer of young adults in America, Greed to Do Good delivers a searing insider account of how the CDC — once a beacon of scientific integrity — lost its way in the fight against opioids.
Dr. Charles LeBaron spent 28 years inside the CDC, earning its highest honors for scientific excellence. Now, he’s pulling back the curtain. With gripping clarity, LeBaron exposes how misguided supply-side crackdowns and political interference sabotaged public health — and how the agency abandoned the very science that could have saved lives.
Here you can listen to the podcast that we did about the book
Shorts from the interview “You Can’t Bomb Demand Away”: Why ‘Absolute Resolve’ Won’t Stop Overdoses
The Overdose Crisis Gets Buried—But the Deaths Don’t Stop
The overdose crisis keeps getting buried under the next headline—Greenland, war, kidnappings, shootings.
But while attention moves on, 200 people a week keep dying.
It’s the leading killer of young adults in America, and it doesn’t stop just because we stop talking about it.
Transcript (Joshua Scheer Interview with Dr. Charles LeBaron)
(Polished for readability, natural flow, and publication)
Joshua Scheer: The Trump administration has claimed that its attack on Venezuela — what it calls Operation Absolute Resolve — including the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, was a bold effort to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. President Trump even said that each strike “saved 25,000 American lives,” a number so wildly inflated it would amount to wiping out nearly eight years of U.S. overdose deaths. My guest today, Dr. Charles LeBaron, says that claim collapses under even minimal scientific scrutiny.
Dr. LeBaron is a former medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he worked for 28 years and received some of the agency’s highest awards for scientific excellence. After retiring, he began speaking out about what he saw as the CDC’s abandonment of rigorous science in its handling of the opioid crisis — and how repeated supply‑side crackdowns made the epidemic worse, not better. We’ve had him on before to discuss his book, Greed to Do Good: The Untold Story of the CDC’s Disastrous War on Opioids.
Dr. LeBaron argues that attacking Venezuela — a country with virtually no role in the U.S. opioid supply — will do nothing to reduce addiction or overdoses in the United States. The drugs driving today’s crisis are illicit synthetic opioids like fentanyl, largely synthesized in Mexico from Chinese precursor chemicals and trafficked through official U.S. ports of entry, not through Caracas.
Joshua Scheer: Let’s start with the basics. Opioid deaths in the United States — how serious is the problem, and how does this idea of “enforcement over treatment” fit into the picture?
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Opioids are the number one killer of adults aged 18 to 49. They kill more people than firearms and automobiles combined. More people die from opioids than from prostate cancer. This is a crisis that absolutely demands action. But if you made a list of the top 400,000 things to do, “invade Venezuela” wouldn’t be on it. Venezuela is not a contributor to the U.S. opioid crisis. It’s essentially a transit point for cocaine going to Europe. It has no meaningful role in U.S. opioid deaths. Kidnapping a dictator from Venezuela is probably the least effective thing you could do to help Americans.
Joshua Scheer: And the data backs that up. The United Nations and the DEA both show that the raw material for cocaine overwhelmingly comes from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia — with Colombia producing the vast majority. Venezuela doesn’t even appear on U.N. cocaine production maps. The DEA’s own report says 84% of cocaine seized in the U.S. is Colombian. No mention of Venezuela as a producer or major transit point. Yet we’re told this military operation is about “saving American lives.”
Meanwhile, the former president of Honduras — an actual cocaine trafficker who bragged about “shoving cocaine up the gringos’ noses” — was pardoned. The hypocrisy is staggering.
But let’s talk about what’s happening at the CDC. You’ve described a “war on science.” What do you mean?
Dr. Charles LeBaron: It’s not even clear who is running the CDC. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is head of Health and Human Services, but we haven’t had a permanent CDC director for the entire Trump administration. The acting head is essentially Kennedy’s press officer, based in Washington, not Atlanta.
At the same time, the administration has gutted the institutions that were beginning to reduce overdose deaths. Billions have been cut from SAMHSA. Hundreds of millions stripped from NIDA. The CDC’s overdose‑prevention division is being pushed toward elimination — despite a historic 20% drop in overdose deaths in 2024.
Joshua Scheer: And that’s the part that’s so shocking. Overdose deaths were finally going down for the first time in more than 25 years — and the response was to dismantle the programs that were working.
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Exactly. And we’ve blinded the radar system. The CDC is supposed to monitor overdose deaths. We should have detailed reports from 2024 by now. Instead, the most recent data is from last summer. This is the number one killer of young adults, and we’re flying blind.
Joshua Scheer: Let’s talk about fentanyl. Why is it so dangerous, and how does the supply‑side approach make things worse?
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Fentanyl is about 100 times stronger than morphine. It’s synthesized in Mexico using precursor chemicals from China. It’s smuggled through official ports of entry, not carried by migrants. Because it’s so potent, even small errors in amateur synthesis can create lethal doses in pills that look harmless.
And there are even stronger analogs — like carfentanil — where a package the size of a printer cartridge could kill every person in the United States.
This is why supply‑side crackdowns backfire. When you arrest a dealer, users turn to more dangerous, unpredictable sources. Overdoses spike. That’s the drug‑bust paradox.
Joshua Scheer: And at the same time, the administration is cutting the demand‑side programs — treatment, research, monitoring.
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Yes. We’re increasing DEA funding to bust dealers while eliminating the programs that reduce demand. It’s the worst possible combination.
Joshua Scheer: One thing you point out is that Narcan distribution was a major success — 20 million free doses, saving lives for about $25 each.
Dr. Charles LeBaron: It’s one of the cheapest, most effective interventions in public health. But again, we don’t know how effective it was in 2024 because the CDC isn’t allowed to release the data.
Joshua Scheer: And the budgets of SAMHSA, NIDA, and the CDC’s overdose division combined are less than the cost of one aircraft carrier. Eliminating them saves nothing — but costs lives.
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Exactly. It’s hard to imagine a worse strategy.
Joshua Scheer: As we wrap up, what should people understand about this crisis?
Dr. Charles LeBaron: The overdose crisis gets lost over and over again — overshadowed by foreign policy stunts, political scandals, or whatever dominates the news cycle. But it keeps killing. Two hundred Americans a day. It is the leading killer of young adults. We have to keep our eyes on that reality.
Joshua Scheer: Dr. Charles LeBaron is the author of Greed to Do Good: The Untold Story of the CDC’s Disastrous War on Opioids, named one of the top 100 books of the year by Kirkus. It’s available now in paperback. His op‑ed in Time, “Trump’s Venezuela Takeover Won’t Stop Overdoses in the U.S.,” is also linked on ScheerPost.
Dr. LeBaron, thank you for joining me.
Dr. Charles LeBaron: Thanks so much.
Overdose Deaths Were Falling for the First Time in 25 Years—Then the Data Went Dark
After decades of failure in the so-called war on drugs, there was finally a breakthrough: U.S. overdose deaths began falling for the first sustained period in more than 25 years. Now, sweeping budget cuts and the dismantling of federal monitoring systems threaten to erase those gains—blinding policymakers just as the opioid crisis remains the leading killer of young adults.
Why Busting Drug Dealers Is Making Overdoses Worse
For decades, U.S. drug policy has focused on cracking down on supply—arresting dealers in the belief that fewer drugs mean fewer overdoses. But as this expert explains, that approach often backfires, driving people toward more dangerous substances while gutting the very public health systems needed to reduce demand and save lives
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