Episode Details

Fear is one of the oldest tools in politics — and one of the most effective.

This video provides an example to support what I said in yesterday’s video.

In this piece, I walk through a new Colorado ballot initiative targeting fentanyl and show how fear is being used to sell a policy with enormous incarceration costs, predictable racial disparities, and little evidence it will actually solve the problem.

This isn’t about denying the harm fentanyl causes. It’s about refusing to let fear override facts, accountability, and democratic judgment.

When fear drives policy, the goal often isn’t safety. It’s power.